Back To Life
by ectophandom
Summary: In an alternate universe, a world wide apocalypse nearly killed everyone. The town of Amity Park, now a floating island in the Ghost Zone, believes that there are no more living people left. But when Jack and Maddie Phantom try to make a portal to reach the Organic World, where they believe there are actually survivors, their son Danny acquires some unusual abilities...
1. Chapter 1

"Smile!" Sam's camera flashed, and little black dots danced in Danny's eyes. He rubbed his eyes a little bit before putting down the 'organic suitable material' as his parents called it. In all reality, it was just a pair of jeans, black converse, and a white shirt with red accents and his dad's face plastered in the middle.

"Ok, I showed you the portal, can we get out of here now?" Danny said, motioning to his parent's portal that supposedly was the only way to view a world unseen, known as the Life Zone. Danny's parents had tried to make it work, but everything they'd done had just failed until they eventually just quit. "My parents could be back here any minute," Danny looked over to his only friends, Sam and Tucker. "Besides, they say it doesn't work anyway."

Sam had glowing purple hair and a purple shirt and skirt with black and green accents, along with glowing eyes the color of seaweed. Her skin was a sickly pale, and her hair was forever up in a half pony-tail. She'd died when she was just 14, and looked exactly like she had the day the illness had killed her and her family, only her color scheme was slightly inverted.

Tucker had firetruck red hair, and a black beret. He wore a green long sleeve shirt and black cargo pants. His skin was lightly tinted blue and glowing, and his glowing white glasses were practically glued to his face. His eyes were like green apples; pale, but still definitely green. He'd died at the same age as Sam had, only a few days later, when the apocalyptic illness had spread to his family

Danny was wearing a black jumpsuit with a white belt, gloves, and boots. He'd died, unlike Sam and Tucker, in a ghost hunting experiment with his parents. He'd died a few days after his 14th birthday, months before the illness had even made its way to Amity Park. Because of his slightly less grueling death, his skin remained tan (which was a rarity for the people of Ghost Zone Amity Park). He had snow white hair, and glowing green eyes.

Both Sam and Tucker walked closer to Danny, and they looked curiously inside the unfinished portal. "Come on Danny. The Organic World? Aren't you curious?" Sam asked, continuing to stare into the portal before looking back to Danny expectantly. "You gotta check it out."

"You know what?" Danny looked back at Sam, his signature trouble maker smirk falling into place on his face, "You're right. Who knows what awesome, super cool things exist on the other side of that portal," Danny looked dreamily into the broken portal, his mind automatically trying to recall his days of living, but nothing coming back to him. He was absolutely clueless when it came to organic life and what it was like when he was alive, just like everyone else in Amity Park.

Danny quickly went behind a tarp that was hung to separate his parents new experiment from the rest of the lab and changed into the organic suitable material as quickly as he could manage, coming out from behind it looking like an almost normal teenager.

He got ready to take a step into the portal when Sam stopped him. "Hang on…" she grabbed Jack Phantom's face decal off of Danny's shirt, revealing a plain red oval. "You can't go walking around with that thing on your chest," she threw the decal in a nearby trash can.

Danny nodded at her before turning back to the Organic World Portal (the OWP as his parents liked to call it) and taking a step inside. All around him, there were wires and thick, oddly non-glowing metal. Everything about it seemed so dark, which was odd considering the fact that in the Ghost Zone, everything had a faint glow. Danny took a few more steps before resting his bare hand gently on what he thought was the wall. Little did he know, it was actually the 'On' switch.

Searing pain ripped through Danny's whole body s the portal fired up. He looked down at his hands, watching them slowly lose their ghostly glow. He stumbled a few feet back, landing in Sam's arms. His last view before fading out of consciousness was Sam's green eyes widening as she gasped, looking down at him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Danny! Danny, wake up!" Danny felt his eyes open slightly, staring right up at the concerned faces of his two best friends. "Oh, Danny, you're awake!" Sam held him in a bone crushing hug. Once she finally let go, Tucker helped him to his feet.

"Dude, what happened? You've had us worried sick!" Tucker crossed his arms over his chest. "And, what's up with the new look?"

"What new look?" Danny questioned, grabbing a piece of glowing metal from the nearest workbench. He gasped, nearly dropping it.

The reflection hardly looked like his own. He had jet black hair and sky blue eyes. The part that was most unnerving was the fact that he wasn't glowing at all. His hair was dull, his eyes didn't carve a path of light anymore, and his skin, although slightly paler, was completely dim.

"Guys, what is this?" Danny tried to keep from panicking. He dropped the makeshift and looked between Tucker and Sam for a few moments.

"I- I guess the portal turned on while you were in it, and made you… well it made you…" Tucker tried to get out, but seemed to be chocking on the words.

"Alive!" Sam gasped, rushing over to Danny and grabbing his arm, as if studying it. "How does that even work? Do you feel any different? Oh, jeez Danny, you're so warm!" Sam rambled.

"Chill, Sam! It's not like I'm a different person or anything. I'm still me… right?" Danny asked, pulling his arm from Sam's grasp.

"I know, Danny, it's just -" Tucker was interrupted when the sound of the front door closing shook the whole basement. "That's your parents! Man, you've gotta hide, or change back or something! If they see you like this, they're gonna flip!"

"Change back? How do I do that?" Danny asked, looking down at his hands and panicking slightly.

"I don't know, just do something!" Sam exclaimed, looking around nervously.

"We're home!" Jack bellowed from upstairs. The sound of footsteps boomed through the whole lab, making the trio freeze in fear.

"Danny!" Sam whisper yelled, looking at him with wide eyes.

"I'm trying, Sam!"

"Well, try harder!"

Danny closed his eyes, concentrating until beads of sweat collected on his forehead. Just a few moments before his parents took a step into the room, two electric blue rings formed around Danny's waist, moving apart until they'd passed over his head and under his feet, then disappearing. As the rings progressed, they replaced non-glowing, alive Danny with lightly glowing ghost Danny. The trio let a deep breath out as Jack and Maddie took a step into the room.

"Aye, Danny! You fixed the portal! How'd you do that, Danny-o?" Jack thundered. He had glowing eyes the color of limes, with white hair that faded to black the farther down it got. His skin was tinged green, as was the glow around the his whole body. He wore a black jumpsuit with orange accents and orange boots.

"Danny! You know you're not supposed to be down here without us around! But you'll just have to tell me how you got the OWP working later, once your friends go home," Maddie said smoothly, smiling as she walked past Danny and picked up the piece of metal Danny had dropped earlier.

Maddie had grey, faintly glowing blue skin. Her eyes were forest green, but they were constantly covered with a pair of black goggles with red rims. She always wore a black jumpsuit with blue accents, blue boots, and blue gloves. Whenever she took the hood of her jumpsuit down, she had firetruck red hair cut into a stylish bob with bangs.

"Alright, well, c'mon Jack, let's go make dinner," Maddie set the piece of metal down and walked up the stairs, Jack right behind her.

"Can we have toast again?"

"Jack, you know we've had that for the last three nights…"

Danny, Tucker, and Sam all let out the breath they's been holding, looking at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

The next day, Danny ran into class just a second before the bell rang, sitting down while Lancer glared at him from the front of the room. Danny turned to Sam while Lancer started to blabber on about the history of the Ghost Zone or something boring like that.

"Hey, where were you? Tucker and I were waiting at your locker for, like, ten minutes before class!" Sam whisper yelled to Danny, but stopped when she saw the bags under his eyes. "Woah, what happened to you?"

"The OWP happened to me," Danny sighed, reaching over and resting his hand on Sam's desk so he could talk to her easier from across the aisle. "I stayed up all night trying to figure out my powers."

"And?"

"Well, so far I figured out that I can walk through pretty much eyeruthing, and float aimlessly unless I try to stay near the ground, which is actually really hard. Oh, also, if I concentrate hard enough, I can almost see Amity Park like it must've been when everyone was still alive. I took a look outside, and the sky was black with little white stars, not green and more green. Everything gets inverted a little bit, and everything's a little bit… warmer? I don't know if that's the word, but it only happens when I'm in my, um, organic form," Danny explained in a hushed tone. Suddenly, his hand got paler and stopped glowing, and he fell through the chair, landing face first in the aisle. The whole class snickered, and Mr. Lancer simply shot him a glare.

"Mr. Phantom, I know you think my class is a bit boring, but would you kindly not FALL ASLEEP DURING IT?" Lancer exclaimed, and Danny got up, his cheeks tinted pink, and muttered a half hearted apology. "Now, back to the rule of the Ghost King…" Lancer trailed on.

"Anymore powers?" Sam asked curiously.

"Well, just this one that if I focus hard enough, I can turn stuff into what it must be like in the Organic World," Danny went on, looking down at his hands self consciously.

"Hey, Danny, this isn't a bad thing! Ok? You're not a freak, you're just more unique than the other guys," Sam reassured, offering Danny a supportive smile.

"You think?"

"Oh, definitely," Sam grinned.

The bell rang, and Mr. Lancer sighed. "Class dismissed. And remember, there's going to be a pep-expert coming in later this week to teach this school about positive thinking!" Lancer called out to the kids while they all rushed out of the classroom, not eve acknowledging what he was saying. "Oh, Great Gatsby, why do I even bother."

"Hey, Nathan, I wonder if I can fit you in my gym locker?" Dash asked as he ran out the door, picking up one of the 'geeky' ghosts and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Dash had jet black hair and glowing eyes the color of a slimy fish. He had snow white skin with a thin neon green glow, and was taller than most grown men. He wore a red letterman jacket with black accents, and blue jeans.

"Mr. Baxter, get back here!" Lancer called, storming out of the room and leaving just Sam, Danny, and Tucker, who had been sitting across the room and hadn't heard Sam and Danny's conversation.

"Hey guys! So, what were you two talking about?" Tucker asked, pulling out his PDA and mindlessly playing a stupid game.

"Oh, nothing, Tuck, just my new powers," Danny said sarcastically. Tucker put down his PDA and motioned for Danny to continue, and Danny recapped what he'd told Sam.

"Woah, dude, that's sick!" Tucker clapped Danny's shoulder, and Danny nodded slightly cautiously.

"Yeah, I know, but I just don't know what to do with them now, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess, but -" Tucker was interrupted by a small wisp of warm, red air coming from Danny's mouth. Danny shuddered, suddenly warmer than he was before. He looked around, expecting something to happen, but nothing did right away.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, maybe -" Danny was interrupted by a crashing sound coming from the hallway. The trio ran out of the classroom, all gasping in unison when they saw a ghost hunting human holding a silver and magenta gun with the word 'Masters' written on it in big, magenta letters.

The ghost hunter was tall with defined muscles. His hair was white with old age, and grown out slightly in a long mohawk. He wore a white tank top that showed off his tattooed biceps, a pair of black cargo pants, and black lace-up boots that came halfway up his shins. He wore weird silver and magenta metal gloves, and slung over his shoulder were a few strange and complicated looking weapons, all with a 'Masters' decal stamped on them.

"I am Skulker, Earth's greatest ghost hunter!" the hunter bellowed, and the teens hurried back in fear. "Well well well, look at this! Looks like this weird time-warp Amity Park part of the Ghost Zone doesn't know about the ghost powers they've got. What a pity, my employer wanted a powerful ghost. Looks like he'll just have to settle for some lesser ghost scum," Skulker grinned maliciously. "Let's go with," he looked around for a few moments, taking good look at the teens frozen with fear, "you."

Skulker pointed a single gloved finger at none other than Dash Baxter, Amity High's resident jock.

 **Hey guys! So, this is my first ever fanfic (not my first story/book, though) and I was really surprised that I had a few followers and even a few reviews just a day after I'd posted! Yay! I just wanted to thank you all by updating again (sorry for the cliffhanger though!).**

 **I do, however, need a little help with something. Do you guys have any power ideas for Danny, being half alive and all? Because honestly all the ideas I have beyond the ones in this chapter are pretty lame, lol.**

 **Anyways, I'll try to update again soon, but I just started school today, so we'll see...**

 **-Samantha**


	3. Chapter 3

Without even thinking, Danny took about three steps backwards into Lancers room. Two blue rings formed around his waist, and before he knew it, he was in his human form. He ran outside of the room, hoping that nobody saw what had just happened.

"No!" Danny took a step in front of Dash. Everything told him to step out of the way, to just let this Skulker guy take Dash because hey, Dash never did anything for him except for show him the inside of his locker. No matter how many reasons Danny came up with to move out of the way, something inside of him snapped. He couldn't move. His whole body seemed to be buzzing with electricity.

"Oh, it's you! How could I have not seen you?" Skulker laughed. "Oh, Mr. Masters will be very pleased indeed."

"Leave us alone and go back through whatever portal you've come through," Danny said, his voice strong and unwavering.

"Let's make a deal, boy," Skulker said, pointing his gun directly at Danny, "you come with me, and I leave everyone in this school alone."

"How about," Danny took a steady step forward, never breaking eye contact with Skulker, "I stay here, and you leave everyone alone?"

"Oh, puny boy-" Skulker started, only to be interrupted by a beeping sound coming from his wrist. He sighed, looking down and reading the small screen. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Skulker threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "I may not get you today, but I'll have you soon enough, boy!"

The ghost hunter pressed a button on his watch, creating a vortex in the wall next to him. The vortex glowed with a mix of blue, green, and yellow, reminding Danny of distant memories, too far away to ever recall, but close enough to make him feel something in his chest, like a longing to return to a different life. Skulker stepped through, and the vortex closed almost instantly.

Before everyone in the hallway could say anything, Danny smiled, turned and nodded at Dash, and walked right through the wall. He passed through the basement and floated up through the floor, turning back into a ghost and running into the hallway before anyone even noticed he was gone (except for Sam and Tucker, of course).

"Who was that?" Dash asked, looking around at the other a-listers.

"I don't know, but whoever he is, I think he's just so…so brave!" Paulina, the most popular girl at the school, said dreamily. She had eyes like moss, and perfectly tanned and flawless skin. Like Danny, she hadn't died because of the illness, but because of a car accident. She wore a neon pink crop top and a pair of black leggings that hugged her curves perfectly. She had long black hair, and wore perfect makeup.

"Hey Danny," Sam said, just loud enough for Danny and Tucker to hear. "Whatever that was, it was pretty awesome."

Danny smiled a little bit, rubbing the back of his neck nervously before chuckling a little bit. "Yeah, thanks, I guess."

* * *

"So, what now?" Sam plopped down on Danny's bedroom.

"Yeah, Danny, what even happened today?" Tucker asked, leaning against the wall as Danny closed the door.

"I don't know guys, but it just felt right, you know?" Both Tucker and Sam stared at Danny blankly in response. He sighed, taking a seat next to Sam on his bed. "I don't know guys. I mean, I know I didn't really want these powers and stuff, but it's like, standing up to that human today just felt so right, like that's what I have to do. I've just got to stop all they guys who are coming through!"

"Well, dude, do you really want to do this, though?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, Tuck, I really do. Well, wait, it's not that I want to, it's more that I need to."

"Ok Danny," Sam smiled widely. "This'll be fun."

* * *

Friday came quickly enough. The trio messed around with Danny's powers a little bit, finding out that if Danny concentrated hard enough, he could control where he floats to the point where it was a bit more like flying. They figured out that whenever Danny felt the wisp of heat, it meant that organic material as somewhere near him, that he could go through pretty much anything in the ghost zone, and that he could even see ghosts as they were when they were alive with enough concentration, which was a weird one. No more humans bothered them, which was alright with Danny, because he really just needed to get used to his new powers before anything else happened.

Although, Danny had to admit, when he walked into school on Friday and felt his 'human sense', as his friends called it, go off, he was a little excited. Although practicing after school was pretty fun, Danny was secretly excited to try out his powers on living people.

"Guys," Danny said, glancing at his friends with a look of urgency.

"Is it…?" Tucker asked. Danny nodded, and Tucker and Sam both nodded, signaling for Danny to go do his thing.

Danny ran off to the bathroom, changing into his human form, and concentrating on not being seen (which he'd also found out he could do. It wasn't exactly like going invisible, but more like just not being seen unless people were looking for him).

Danny did a quick sweep of the school, looking for anything suspicious, but finding nothing. He returned back to his ghost form, and met his friends in front of his locker.

"Find anything?" Sam questioned, her seaweed eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Nothing. It's weird, because I swear I felt something in this building," Danny threw his hands up in the air before grabbing his books without even opening his locker by just putting his hand through it. The bell rang, and the trio groaned, heading to Mr. Lancer's class.

"So, what now? You just wait for the human to come to you?" Sam asked.

"I don't really have any other options, you know?" Danny sighed as they entered the classroom, only to find that it was boiling hot in there.

"Man, what's up with the heat wave?" Tucker asked, taking his seat across the room from Sam and Danny's. Once they were all in their seats, the late bell rang, and Lancer walked into the room with a woman right behind him.

She wore a red blazer with black accents, and a pair of black five inch heals. Her firetruck red hair was styled into a 'v' shape, and perfectly pointed at the ends. Her makeup was done perfectly to match her pale-tan complexion, showing the whole class that she must've been in an accident instead of being killed by the illness. All around her, a faint white glow was only slightly visible, as if it was a mirage. Hey eyes were more of a turquoise color than green, and were just barely glowing.

"Class, this is the pep-expert I was talking about earlier this week, Ms. Penelope Spectra," Lancer introduced. The class was dead silent, showing their lack of enthusiasm.

"Hello, students!" Penelope waved excitedly, her eyes twinkling with enthusiasm. "I'm here to build the overall school spirit by having private meetings with each and everyone of you in the next week!"

Ms. Spectra waited for a response from anyone in the class for a few moments before Mr. Lancer stepped in and said, "Any questions, class?"

Dash raised his hand a little, and Ms. Spectra pointed to him. "Um, why is it so hot in here?"

As if on cue, Danny shuddered, a wave of heat going through his body. He assured himself that it was just the temperature of the room, although he still felt a little suspicious.

"Good question!" Ms. Spectra clapped her hands with joy. "You see, I believe that by turning up the heat, I'm turning up the pep! Isn't that just great?" The silence must've meant yes to her, because she looked around again and asked, "Any more questions?"

Paulina raised her hand a little bit. "Yes, um, Ms. Spectra, do you know anything about the human boy?"

The class started to chatter a little bit over the mention of the human boy. He was known as a mysterious stranger who helped out the whole school, like some kind of human superhero. "Oh," Penelope's eyes zeroed in on Danny, sending a shiver down his spine, "I know about him." Her eyes darted away from Danny before anyone else could notice, but Danny couldn't help but feel even more suspicious. Nothing quite added up.

"Ooh, like what?" Paulina asked, her eyed twinkling.

"Just that he may not be all he's cracked up to be," Ms. Spectra said nonchalantly. Before anyone could ask any more questions, Ms. Spectra clapped her hands, her perfectly white teeth showing. "Oh, this is going to be so much FUN!"

* * *

"Oh, Mr. Phantom, come in, please," Ms. Spectra motioned for Danny to come in. He took a seat in her small office and felt a shudder of heat go through him again, but figured it was just because of the fact that the thermostat read 95 degrees Fahrenheit. "Can I call you Danny? Oh, I'm just going to call you Danny. So, Danny, what brings you in here?"

"Well, just the fact that my parents and Mr. Lancer are making me," Danny mumbled.

"Oh, Danny, it's not that bad," Ms. Spectra got up, drifting behind Danny while he continued to stare straight ahead. "It's just a little bit of counseling. That's all, really."

With a click, Penelope locked the door. Danny turned to face her in the chair, only to see her holding a key. She stuffed the key in her blazer pocket and grinned smugly.

"Look, Danny, I'm not playing around," Penelope walked around so that she was behind her desk. Danny put his hands on the armrests and prepared to get up, but before he could, Penelope pressed a button on a remote from her desk, and straps wrapped themselves around Danny, pulling him back down to the seat.

"Let. Me. GO!" Danny struggled. Without even thinking, he transformed into a his human form and tried to phase through the straps without success.

"Oh, Danny, I'm afraid it's not that easy," Penelope pressed another button on her remote, and instantly, her faint white glow dissipated. Her turquoise eyes turned completely blue, and everything else even remotely ghostly about her faded away.

"You're human!' Danny seethed, still struggling to break the straps.

"And so are you. Well, partially. Now, please, do tell, how is that?" Penelope got a pen and pad of paper out, looking intently at Danny for an answer.

"Who are you?" Danny countered.

"I'm Penelope Spectra, famous ghost psychologist. Now, you must tell me! What are you? A human trying to fit in with ghosts? Or some creepy little ghost with creepy little powers?" she smiled malevolently, awaiting Danny's answer.

"Both! Uh...neither! I don't know!" Danny continued to struggle, a thousand thoughts going through his head. He'd been having similar thoughts about his powers, and hearing someone else say them outloud just made it more real.

Penelope laughed, walking calmly over to Danny after putting down the pen and pad of paper. She took a small syringe out of her pocket, crouching slightly so that she was eye level with Danny and holding the syringe off to the side, ready in case anything went wrong.

"My employer required that you not be harmed physically, but he never said anything about mental harm. Now, do tell, what do you remember about your life?" Spectra asked, her eyes dancing with curiosity.

"I, uh, don't remember, I don't think, I…stop it!" Danny struggled even more, and Penelope backed up, a grin etched onto her face.

"Oh, I guess enough is enough. If all goes well, we'll see much more of each other," she brought the syringe down into Danny's arm, injecting the clear liquid. Instantly, Danny's vision blurred. His head lolled to one side, and his whole body began to feel disconnected from his mind. After just a few seconds, everything went black.

 **Hey guys! First week of school - done! And because I'm so excited, I've posted an extra long chapter for my extra awesome readers.**

 **Oh, also! I LOVE the feedback! This chapter was really hard to write, and** **every time** **I got stuck I just looked at the comments, and I was good to go. Thank you all SO much!**

 **I'll update soon, I promise!**

 **-Samantha**


	4. Chapter 4

"-the injection?" Danny heard a male voice through the darkness.

"Yes, Mr. Masters, I've done everything you've asked," Penelope's voice became clearer and clearer with each word. "And you'll keep your end of the deal?"

"Of course. Ms. Spectra, you'll find everything you need to about ghost phycology for your thesis in no time, but first, I have a few experiments of my own for Daniel," there was that voice again. Each word was dramatically enunciated, as if he had planned them out precisely.

"Thank you, Mr. Masters. We'll be in touch," Penelope's voice rang again. The sound of heals clicking grew further and further away, followed by the sound of a heavy metal door slamming shut.

Danny opened his eyes hesitantly. He blinked the spots out of them, and found himself staring at a lab. Right in front of him was a control panel with too many blinking magenta lights to count and so many computer screens with different displays that is was hard to focus on just one. He tried to turn his head, only to find that he couldn't. His head was held in place by two pieced of metal and a strap over his forehead. Three metal restraints kept him from getting up from the cold metal table. Danny craned his head down, observing the fact that he was in his human form still.

"Ah, you're awake," the man said, stepping into Danny's vision. He had white-grey hair that was pulled up in a pony-tail, and striking blue eyes rimmed with just a touch of eyeliner. He wore a suit and tie, as if he was ready to go to some fancy event, and walked with just a touch of selfishness that Danny almost didn't pick up on.

"Where am I?" Danny croaked.

"Why, I'm surprised you don't remember. But alas, I guess you don't remember much, Daniel," he walked in a neat circle around Danny, ending up right in front of him. "My name is Vlad Masters."

At the mention of Vlad's name, Danny's ears rung, and his head spun. Memories tugged at the back of his mind, as if they wanted to break through, but they couldn't. "I…I knew you," he concluded.

"Indeed, my young boy. When you were alive. But things have changed since then. Daniel, what do you remember about Amity Park - before you died?"

"Nothing," Danny sighed truthfully.

"Well, I'm sure you've got a few questions, so let me try to shine a little light on what you're missing," Vlad smirked a little bit. "You lived in Amity Park with your parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton," the name Fenton sent a chill down Danny's spine, "and your sister Jazz."

"Sister…I don't have a sister," Danny confessed.

"Well, you probably just don't remember her. She's never been in the ghost zone, because she's still alive. You see, after you'd died in that accident in your parent's lab, Jazz became depressed. She loved you so much, Daniel, that she simply didn't know how to go on. Once she graduated high school, she moved as far away as possible, trying desperately to take away the pain. Unfortunately, while she was studying abroad, the Death Plague hit Amity park and…oh, I'm sure you know the rest," Vlad explained.

"The Death Plague…is that what the illness is called?"

"Yes, it is. Nobody quite knows where or how it originated, but nobody was immune. A vaccine was finally discovered after nearly three fourths of the world's population was wiped out. Jack and Maddie were always dear friends of mine, and upon the discovery of their passing, I sought out Jazz. She's still moving on, slowly and surely, but it is a start."

"Wait, if you were so close with my parents, then why did you hire people to hunt me down? And, what were you talking about with Spectra about the experiments and stuff?" Danny's head was spinning because of the fact that everything this man was saying felt so vaguely familiar, but not quite right, as if there were a few missing pieces.

"Oh, Daniel, I do believe that you've had enough for today. It's time for you to get some rest," Vlad turned around and pushed a few buttons on the control panel. Danny felt the IV in his arm grown cooler from a liquid flowing through it, and then he felt nothing.

* * *

Danny woke up with a start, still bound to the metal table. Right in front of him was a small man with a bit of a large belly and white hair from old age. He wore a pristine white suit, and his warm brown eyes glittered with hospitality.

"Who are-" Danny started.

"Shhh, you must be quiet, before someone hears you. You can just call me the Dairy King. I work for Vlad, only so that I can save poor souls like yourself," he spoke with a slight Canadian accent. With a push of a button, the Dairy King unbound Danny, who stood up right away. "In your ghost form, you have powers here. Use them to escape. You'll find yourself in Wisconsin, but you cannot stay here. You need to go to Harvard University, where you will find a girl named Jazz Fenton, your sister. She'll recognize you right away and fill you in on the details. Whatever you do, do not trust Vlad. He's already lied to you, don't doubt that he'll do it again."

"I-" Danny stopped himself. "Thank you so much."

Without another word, the Dairy King nodded and scurried out of the room. Danny transformed into his ghost form and flew through the ceiling without a second thought. After flying and becoming intangible so much in his human form in the Ghost Zone, he found that doing it there in his ghost form wasn't so different. He flew through a few more floors before coming out the roof, nearly blinded by the bright sun. Everything about this world felt familiar to Danny. The warm, bright sun. The blue sky. The green grass. Everything made him feel oddly nostalgic for something he couldn't even remember.

He flew until he reached a small gas station, where he returned to his human form and stole a map, so that he could figure out where to go. He sighed when he saw how far he'd have to go, but flew on anyways. Even though Danny couldn't remember his sister, the idea of having one was thrilling…and slightly familiar. Every time he heard the name Jazz Fenton, memories of long red hair and gentle, friendly forehead kisses came back, but not much more than that.

Those memories were the only thing keeping him going. He never stopped to rest just a few times, but only when he was getting too winded from flying so much. Eventually, Danny made it to Harvard, which he discovered was some fancy smart kid college. He transformed into his human form so that he didn't stick out quite so much, and asked a couple of kids if they knew Jazz Fenton. Most said no, and a few others didn't even answer and just continued walking around campus.

After nearly a half hour, Danny spotted a girl with red hair and a blue headband keeping the hair out of her face. Not even giving it a second thought, Danny ran towards her, yelling, "Jazz!"

She turned around, and her turquoise eyes widened with surprise just before Danny tackled her in an embrace. Jazz fought back a sob and hugged her half-dead little brother.

"Danny! You're alive!" Jazz sobbed, running her fingers through his jet black hair. She put her hands on both sides oh his face, forcing him to look directly in her tear covered eyes. "What happened? Oh, I don't care, as long as you're back!" Jazz pulled his face into her hair and continued to pull her fingers through his hair.

"I- I-" Danny tried to say, choking back a sob. This felt all too familiar, but he still couldn't remember anything else. "I don't remember much from before," he finally choked out.

"That's fine, it's ok," Jazz disentangled herself from Danny and got up, brushing the grass off of her blue pants and helping Danny up. "Here, let's go back to my dorm. We have a lot to talk about."

 **Sorry for the kinda short chapter, but as I was writing it, I realized how long it would be if I didn't cut off somewhere. In other words, you guys are probably getting a really long chapter either today or tomorrow.**

 **In other news, I forgot to proofread my last chapter, and there were tons of typos! I fixed them all, but I'm sorry, still. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again! Oh, also, what do you think of Jazz being alive? The idea came to me yesterday when I realized that we hadn't seen her yet. Don't worry though, she's still a huge part of the story :P**

 **Until next time!**

 **-Samantha**


	5. Chapter 5

"Hold on a second; you did WHAT?" Jazz asked, interrupting Danny just as he was explaining the incident with the portal.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I was curious, and Sam thought it would be a good idea, so…" Danny chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Daniel Fenton!" Jazz crossed her arms over her chest.

"Uh, Phantom, actually," Danny corrected.

"Oh, whatever! If Sam told you to jump off of a cliff, would you?" Jazz exclaimed. Danny thought about it for a few moments, and Jazz threw a pen from her nightstand at him. "Danny!"

"What? Sam's usually right," he muttered.

"Not the point!"

"Look, the accident is the only reason I'm back here, so shouldn't you be happy…or something?" Danny asked earnestly.

Jazz sighed, running her fingers through her hair and smiling just a little bit. "Yeah, I'm happy, but you just have to realize how stupid that was, ok little brother?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, ok."

"Now, go on," Jazz nodded. Danny continued to explain how he'd gotten there, telling Jazz about Skulker and Spectra and Vlad, and finally telling her about the Dairy King and his escape from the facility.

"Yeah, and that's basically it," Danny said nonchalantly. Jazz looked at him, obviously deep in thought before pulling back her hair and revealing a pair of silver and green headphones.

"Do you remember these?" she asked, pointing to her ears. Danny shook his head, and Jazz sighed. "They're called Fenton Phones. They're designed to block out and ghostly feedback. Mom and Dad made them a while back, before everything got…well…messed up," Jazz explained.

"What do you mean, messed up?"

"Well, it all started ten years ago," Jazz started. "You were just as young and stupid then as you are now, I guess," she chuckled under her breath. "When you were still alive, there was no such thing as the Death Plague, nor was there ever destined to be. You had a similar incident with Mom and Dad's portal, and you…well…you half died, kinda. I was never quite sure how that all worked, but you were half ghost, and you had ghostly powers. You were like a superhero, Danny. You stopped the bad ghosts from terrorizing Amity Park, and still somehow managed to have a regular teenage life. The only people who knew about your powers were me, Sam, Tucker, and Vlad. Vlad was like your arch nemesis, kinda. He was half ghost, half human, just like you, except he got his powers back when he was in college. He never really tried to kill you, but he did try constantly to ruin your life and convert you into his sidekick. Now, this is where it gets complicated. Do you know anything about the ghosts called Clockwork and Frostbite?"

"Um…I think I learned something about them in history class. Isn't Clockwork the master of time?" Danny asked, and Jazz nodded in response. "And then Frostbite is the frozen dude with the special map, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't call him 'some frozen dude with a special map', but yeah, basically," Jazz chuckled lightly before moving on. "That 'special map' is called the Infamap, and it's purpose is to take ghosts anywhere in the Ghost Zone they want. Anyways, one day, Vlad discovered a concoction that could make him immortal, but it also took away his ghost powers. He was outraged that he didn't have his powers anymore, so he tried to find a cure. He hired some ghosts to retrieve the Infamap and Clockwork's staff, so that he could travel to any time and place in order to find the ultimate poison that could get his powers back. He bribed the ghosts with a chance to be alive again as well as immortality, and they gladly took the offer. Well, they found an ultimate poison, also known as the Death Plague. Not only did the Death Plague not work on Vlad's immortality, but it also wiped out about three fourths of the world's population," Jazz explained.

Danny's head spun. Everything Jazz said sounded slightly familiar, but still not 100% true, like a few pretty major details had been changed. "Why doesn't that sound quite right?" Danny asked.

Jazz sighed. "Because all of that changed when Vlad granted some of his servants immortality. He used Clockwork's staff to go back in time to when they were still alive, because that's the only way the immortality serum works, if it's injected into an at least semi-living being. So, of course, when Vlad changed the time stream multiple times, it somehow ended up with you dying in that accident instead of getting powers. The only reason I remember everything is because of the fact that I always wore a pair of Fenton Phones, which, for some reason, made sure I remembered everything from both timelines. Once you died in the new timeline, I moved away from Amity Park and made sure to do s many foreign exchange programs in college as possible. I was in a remote country when the Death Plague got but here in the US. I survived, but…Amity Park was wiped out completely. Vlad tried to contact me, but I just kept dodging his calls and deleting his emails, but eventually, he just showed up here at college. He told me he wanted to be like a new father to me, expecting me to not remember all the times he'd tried to ruin your life in the old timeline. I shut him out. I didn't want anything to do with him. He was the whole reason all of this happened in the first place. Danny, Vlad is the reason you're dead," by the end, Jazz was wiping tears from her eyes.

Danny stared at Jazz for a count of ten before breathing the words, "I'm so sorry." He kept his head lowered, trying to process everything his sister had just said. Every bit of it made sense with everything he felt should've happened, but that didn't make it any easier to believe.

"Danny, I thought you were gone for good. You have no clue how it feels to lose someone like that," Jazz closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her face.

"I- I lost everything from my life when I died. It's probably not the same, but I do know how it feels to be missing something from my life," Danny said shakily. He couldn't figure out to say. Jazz and Danny just sat there and looked at each other for a few minutes, simply enjoying each others company.

Jazz had to be at least twenty eight by the way she looked. She had faint worry lines on her forehead even when she smiled from years of stress and depression, and dark bags under her eyes. She had long red hair that was slightly frizzy, and a turquoise headband keeping it out of her face. Her eyes sparkled with more life than Danny had even seen, despite all she'd been through. She wore a black ling sleeve shirt and turquoise yoga pants to match her headband.

After nearly ten minutes of just sitting, Danny's stomach growled, making him jump. "What was that?" he asked.

Jazz chuckled a little bit, shaking her head. "You're hungry. You don't remember being hungry, do you?" Danny shook his head. "It happens when humans need food, and since you're half human, you need food. Here, let's go to the cafeteria, they should still be open."

* * *

After three hours and nearly fifty dollars worth of food, Danny and Jazz ended up in Jazz's private dorm again. Jazz explained the basics of being alive (like eating and sleeping and bathing), and Danny took a nice long shower. Eventually, they ended up going to bed, deciding to talk about a plan in the morning. The following morning, they headed down to the cafeteria and brought their breakfast back to Jazz's dorm.

"So, what now?" Danny asked taking a bite of his scrambled eggs.

"Well," Jazz took a bite of her turkey bacon, "you can't stay here, as much as I love having you here. I don't have enough money or enough resources to keep you here, and people will start to question your suddenly appearing her."

"Then, what other options do I have?" Danny asked.

"Well, I do have an idea. When Vlad went back in time and gave the serum to some of the ghosts - who actually never ended up being ghosts - there were a few who actually ended up being pretty good people. They only turned evil when they died, so having not died, they remained good people. While I was traveling abroad, I found a few of them, and got their information just incase I needed their help, or visa versa. I figure that at least one of them have a ghost portal so that you can get back to your Amity Park and make sure that the ghost hunters you told me about don't do anything to the town," Jazz proposed. She looked down at her food, refusing to meet Danny's eyes before asking, "How are Mom and Dad?"

"They- they're good," Danny stuttered. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to her, but when Jazz looked back up and smiled reassuringly, he hoped he'd said the right thing.

"That's good. Now, let's get you that list of ex-ghosts."

* * *

Danny stood at the gates of the campus with a duffle bag filled with food, a few changes of clothes, and fifty dollars ready to go. He held in his hand a list of friendly ex-ghosts, and looking over it, he definitely recognized a few names. He looked up from the list, smiling sadly at Jazz, who was trying to keep from crying.

"Jazz, you know, I can stay a little longer if you want me to," Danny said, feeling his own eyes water slightly.

"No, you need to do this. Good luck, little brother," Jazz took a few steps forward and pressed her lips against his forehead. She took a step back and smiled sadly, a few tears escaping.

Danny stood there for a second before dropping the duffle bag and wrapping his arms around his sister. He took a whiff of her hair, the smell of cinnamon and jasmine filling his senses. He let a few tears slide down his face while Jazz continued to hold him tight. She pulled him away, holding him arms length from her face.

"Promise to visit, ok?" Jazz sniffled.

 **THIS CHAPTER WAS SO FUN TO WRITE BUT ALSO SO INCREDIBLY SAD! So, I finally got to clear up a few things about the illness and what the heck happened to create this au. I hope you guys like it!**

 **PS, sorry it's not as long as I said it would be, but hey, at least I updated pretty fast!**

 **-Samantha**

"I promise," Danny took a step back, picking up his duffle bag and smiling sadly at his crying sister. Without another word, he transformed into his ghost form and took off into the air, looking back over his shoulder as he saw the speck of turquoise grow smaller into the distance as he looked at the first name on the list.

Ember.


	6. Chapter 6

Danny stood in front of the door longer than he'd anticipated. He took an unsteady look down at the list again, checking the address of the small condo once more. He knocked shakily three times, rubbing the back of his neck while the locks rattles. The door swung open, revealing a girl probably in her late teens. He wore her long brown hair up in a high ponytail. Even up, it reached down to her lower back. She had big sapphire eyes with perfect makeup around them. She wore an electric blue t-shirt that barely showed her stomach and a pair of black leggings. The second she laid eyes on Danny, she gasped.

"You! I- I know you, I think," Ember took a step back.

"You do look familiar," Danny ran his fingers through his hair, trying to remember something that wasn't there. "I'm Danny Phan- I mean Fenton. Jazz sent me."

"Yes, I definitely know you. Uh, come in, I guess, as long as you're with Jazz," Ember motioned stiffly for Danny to come in. She shut the door after him and took a seat on the sofa in the small living room. Danny followed, taking a seat on the chair across from the sofa and nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"She's my sister," Danny explained. "I mean, before I died. I came here to talk to you about ghosts."

Ember's eyes widened. "No way, you're Jazz's brother! Danny Fenton, Jazz Fenton, how didn't I put it together! Oh, wow, no wonder I feel like I know you. Did Jazz explain what happened with Vlad and all?" Danny nodded his head in response. "Well, then you know that I haven't aged since 1967, when Vlad first found me. He told me that he'd found a way for me to live forever. Me, being the stupid 19 year old I was, took that stupid serum. He never did tell me why he gave it to me, except for explaining to me that he was returning a favor. Later on, Jazz explained what'd happened," Ember sighed and rested her elbow on her knee, rubbing her forehead.

"Let me guess, being special isn't all it's cracked up to be?" Danny guessed. Ember looked up, her eyes sparkling understandingly.

"Yeah, no kidding. Hey, how did you end up alive again, anyways?" Ember asked earnestly.

"Well, it all started after I died," Danny started. He explained everything that happened, ending by briefly touching on what Jazz had told him about the alternate timeline.

"Wow, that's quite the story," Ember licked her lips, obviously thinking about what to say next. "Jazz told me a little bit about the alternate timeline, although she never mentioned you. It was probably a sore topic since you'd, you know, died. So, anyways, you're telling me that you're looking for a ghost portal besides Vlad's to get back to your home, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to find. Jazz said you and a few others she met like you might know somewhere I could find one?" Danny asked.

"Well, I do know about where you can find a ghost portal, but I don't think you're going to like it," Ember sighed. "I mean, we all know about Vlad's portal, but obviously you can't go back there. There is one more, but…" she trailed off.

"But what?" Danny asked.

"Well, it was my friend Edwin Boxton's - apparently Jazz said you might remember him as the Box Ghost? - before Vlad destroyed it in a fit of jealousy," Ember explained.

"A fit of jealousy? Wait, why would he be jealous?" Danny asked.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot that Jazz wouldn't have told you about the abilities. Well, it happened to all of us who were given the serum. Because we were supposedly destined to become more in our afterlives than what had really happened, we somehow gained special abilities. I imagine that's pretty much what happened to you with the accident, why you ended up half ghost one way or another. Anyways, Vlad never got any abilities after he used the serum. He was always jealous of those of us who did."

"Wow," Danny let that sink in for a moment. Sure, Danny had seen a lot weirder things than special abilities, but it still managed to surprise him. "So, what can you do, then?"

"Well, I can…" Ember thought about how to word it. "Oh, here, I'll just show you."

Ember stood up, pulling her shirt down a little bit so that it only showed a sliver of her stomach. She straightened up, and took a deep breath. When she opened her mouth, she started to sing, making the air ripple with tension all around her. She held one simple note, letting it ring through the air. All around Ember, the air began to glow electric blue. While sustaining the note, she turned her eyes towards the TV, which automatically switched on. Next, she turned to look at a book on the coffee table, and it began to lift itself into the air. Ember took a breath after nearly thirty seconds, and the book fell. The TV turned off, and the blue glow dissipated. Ember almost fell, but Danny stood up and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"I know," Ember breathed, "it's kinda lame, but it's what I do."

"Lame? No way!" Danny let go of Ember once she was stable. "That's so cool!"

"You think?" Ember asked self consciously.

"Oh, for sure!"

"Alright, ok," Ember smiled. She looked at the clock hanging on her wall and gasped. "Oh, wow, it's already midnight. I've got work tomorrow, I should really head to bed." Danny stayed where he was, not moving. "But I guess you don't have anywhere to go. Here, you can sleep on my couch, I'll go grab the blankets."

* * *

Danny's dream went something like this:

He was back in Vlad's lab, and the florescent lights were dimmed except for one, which was right above the metal lab table. Strapped to said table was Jazz, struggling to get out. Vlad loomed over her, smirking smugly.

"Let me go, you scumbag!" Jazz kicked and squirmed, just missing Vlad nearly every time.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Jasmine," Vlad paced calmly around the table. "You see, I do believe we had a deal, which you have neglected to honor."

"Just let me go, ok? The deal is off," Jazz growled.

"The deal is most certainly not off! You were meant to subdue the boy, not to encourage him to work with…with them," Vlad said the word 'them' with distaste. "And now he is somewhere that I have no access to track him, and it's all your fault!"

"He's my brother, Vlad! Even you couldn't be stupid enough to think that I'd really betray him because you blackmailed me, right?" Jazz snarled.

"Jasmine you listen to me right now!" Vlad yelled. "Tell me where Daniel is this instant, or else I've got a little…something for you," Vlad gradually calmed down.

"Never! I'll never tell you where Danny is, Vlad!" Jazz kicked and screamed.

"Well then, you leave me no choice," Vlad picked up a syringe off of a neighboring table. He shook up the glowing neon green liquid, watching the patches of darker, toxic green swirl.

"W- what is that?" Jazz stuttered, forgetting about struggling at the sight of the toxic liquid.

"Oh, it's just the immortality serum I created, only with a concentration ten fold. I've never tested a concentration like this on human subjects. The scientists who I've funded don't know quite what it would do, but I guess there's no time like the present," Vlad smirked. "Anything you want to tell me, Jasmine?"

"I- I-" Jazz hesitated before closing her eyes tightly. "I have nothing to say to you, Vlad."

"Well then, I see you've made your choice," Vlad brought the syringe closer to Jazz's arm. As the needle pressed into her arm, Danny's dream began to fade to black. He woke up to the sound of his sister's scream inside his ears.

 **So, what do you guys think? I literally just wrote all of this in the last three hours. I've been so busy with school and stuff, and I just didn't write all week! Ugh!**

 **Aaaaanyways, so sorry this is kinda a short filler chapter, but I'm just really stumped on where to take the story! Any ideas? No? Eh, I'll probably figure something out. I mean, I already have the big plot and stuf, but the little stuff is sooooo haaaard.**

 **Ok, I'm done complaining now. See you guys next chapter!**

 **-Samantha**


	7. Chapter 7

Danny woke up screaming and on the floor. He took a look around and gradually caught his breath. He looked next to him at the sofa and realized that he must've fallen off of the couch. Ember came running in from her room, still in the process of putting in her earrings.

"Hey, Dan, you ok?" she asked, finally finishing putting in her earrings.

"Danny," Danny corrected.

"Huh?" Ember asked, pulling her long hair up into a high ponytail.

Danny scrunched his eyebrows, confused about the shock the name Dan sent through him. "I…I don't know. I just don't like that name," Danny sat up groggily.

"Oh, well ok then," Ember tightened her ponytail. "So, you ok?"

"Ugh, yeah, just a dream…" he ran his fingers through his messy black hair.

"Ooh, what about?" Ember plopped down on the sofa, offering her hand to Danny to help him onto the couch.

"I don't really wanna talk about it," Danny mumbled.

"Fine," Ember got up, pulling down her blazer a little bit. She was wearing a black pantsuit and a pair of three inch heals. "Listen, I've gotta get to work, but I left some waffles out on the counter. Do you like waffles? Well, if you don't, I've got some other food in the fridge and the pantry," Ember helped Danny to his feet. "Oh, also, I left an address on the counter if you wanna talk to Boxy…I mean Edwin. He probably knows more about ghosts than I do."

"Alright," Danny rubbed his eyes, still trying to shake the feeling his dream left him with. "You sure he'll be fine with me just showing up?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ember smiled a little bit before ruffling Danny's hair playfully. "See you after work! I'll be back at five. Oh, and be careful! Don't blow anything up and please please please don't do anything suspicious, I'm pretty sure my landlord already hates me. Ok, well bye!" Ember shut the door before Danny could even get a word in.

* * *

After Danny had eaten breakfast (who knew waffles were so good?) he got ready for the day the day before hovering over the address for a few minutes. Ember had said that he might have known Edwin by the name the 'Box Ghost', although every time he tried to remember that name, he just couldn't. He finally decided to go meet this Edwin Boxten guy because of the fact that he really needed to know what was so special about being half ghost and how to get back to the ghost zone.

He transformed back into his ghost form, which felt great after a few days of being confined in that stupid human body. He phased through the ceiling with the address in his hands. After a few minutes, he found the apartment and transformed back into his human form. He knocked hesitantly at the door, waiting patiently for whoever was on the other side to answer. After a few minutes, the door suddenly opened, revealing a short and stout man with a beanie cap on. He had a bit of stubble on his face and animated brown eyes. He wore a blue plaid flannel and a pair of jeans, and he regarded Danny with a bit of curiosity.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," he stepped out of the doorway, motioning for Danny to come in. He took a tentative step into the apartment, and Edwin slammed the door, making Danny jump.

"You were expecting me?" Danny asked.

"Of course I was," he look directly at Danny, his stare never wavering.

"Um…how, exactly?"

"The gift of prophecy. Ember did tell you about how some of us have certain powers, correct?" Edwin asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Danny answered.

"Well, then, I should probably explain. I was destined to become some ghost who called himself the Box Ghost. Let me admit, I was destined to be quite a dimwit, which doesn't even make sense. Alive, I'm gifted. Everything I attempt, I achieve. I devote my life to discovery and progress. But dead? Yeah, I'm basically a moron. I'll quite never get over that," Edwin explained.

"So, that serum gave you the ability to see the future?" Danny questioned.

"Indeed. The future, present, past. All of it. I see everything, Daniel. Like how you were destined to be if you hadn't died so young. A superhero. A full, wonderfully difficult life right up the ripe age of 27, when you were destined to drop dead after a challenge you weren't able to stand up to. And then, an afterlife shrouded in so much power, even I can't see it," Edwin continued. "A mystery to the one who sees all. That one will always confuse me," he looked at Danny like the most difficult puzzle he'd ever seen, utterly confused, and yet intrigued.

"Wow. Um, ok, that's pretty cool," Danny smirked.

"It appears you have a touch of prophecy within you too," Edwin went on as if Danny hadn't said a word. The smirk melted right off of Danny's face.

"What?"

"Yes. I do believe it starts with dreams. The kind of prophecy you possess, that is."

Danny's head spun. The dream he'd assured himself was pure fiction was true. His sister was in trouble, and he'd left her there all alone, completely defenseless. "I…I don't understand," he muttered, although he understood all too well.

"I believe you do, Daniel," Edwin sighed. "I've seen your sister as well, although her future is still flexible, shifting constantly around you. I believe there may be a way to save her, although it will not be easy," Edwin made it sound like more of a challenge than a threat. "You will need to train if you ever plan to stop Vlad. Your friends in the ghost zone will have to wait. Your energy has to be completely devoted. For even without his ghost powers, Vlad is still a great threat. The question is: are you up to the challenge?"

Danny straightened up a little bit, allowing himself to look directly into those overly intelligent brown eyes. "Count me in."

* * *

The next week was filled with backbreaking labor and worry. Danny stayed with Ember, who grew to love Danny as the little brother she'd never had, and he trained with Edwin (also known by his nickname, which Danny had started using, Boxy). He woke up at 6 am every morning, helping Ember around the apartment with things like chores and cooking and other things. During the day, he went over to Boxy's place, training his human powers he'd been given by his parents machine, and discovering the ghost powers he'd never known he had. Apparently all ghosts had powers, but for some reason, the ghosts of Amity Park never figured out how to use them.

So far, the human powers he knew of were his human sense, intangibility, floating, that weird thing where he couldn't be seen unless he was being looked for, being able to see the dead as they were while living, prophecy, and the ability to radiate heat (although simply radiating heat did no good unless he could concentrate it). His ghost powers included flying and intangibility (like in his human form), and ectoplasmic rays and shields.

Danny came back to Ember's apartment drenched in sweat and exhausted. The training was a rigorous mix of enhancing his human and ghost powers. At one point, it struck Danny that he could just go ahead and rescue Jazz before she even got captured.

"Vlad had already captured her almost instantly after you'd left. He will just kepep her sedated until he figures out he can't find you without her help," Boxy explained.

"And when is that?" Danny shot back, just a touch of bitterness in his voice.

"A few days from now, I'd say. It'll be easier to tell as it approaches. Wow, we really need to step up the mind conditioning," Boxy told Danny.

Everything about the training was tiring. Even when they took a break from the physical training, Danny trained his mind by using a few of Boxy's inventions. He used the virtual reality helmet when he needed to mentally prepare for any problem, and used the meditation table whenever he needed to condition his prophecy skills.

By the end of their first week of training, Danny had grown much more muscle than he could've imagined before, although he could hardly call himself bulky (because of the fact that he still looked pretty scrawny). He had shown up for training on their eight day, expecting it to be just like any other day when everything suddenly got a lot more real.

"Danny," Boxy breathed as he opened the door. "We have to leave right now. We may be too late as is, but if we wait a moment longer, we won't make it for sure."

"What?" Danny asked incredulously. "Just three days ago you said it would be a few more days!"

"I know! Oh, don't you think I know that! Vlad has someone blocking my prophecies. I can't see the outcome of this whole ordeal, I can only see that it all goes down today!"

"Well then, let's go!" Danny transformed into his ghost form. He grabbed Boxy effortlessly, and took flight, a single thought on his mind.

 _I can't lose her._

 **I'm really proud of how quick I wrote this chapter. I wrote all of it in about 2 hours! Yay! It's just a little bit of a filler, BUT NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO BE SO GOOD! I' really excited to write it, you guys don't even know!**

 **Also, shout out to PickleWitch for commenting on every single chapter and always giving constructive advice. It means so much to me that anyone would look forward to little ole me and my little story. Thanks to anyone and everyone who reads this!**

 **I hope to update soon, but I can never be sure because my teachers sometimes decide to assign a lot of homework without any warning, so I'll see you guys again when I have time! (I'm hoping really soon, because I really love what I have in mind for next chapter)**

 **Anyways, have a great day! (Hopefully better than mine was -_- )**

 **-Samantha**


	8. Chapter 8

The first flash hit Danny like a brick wall, almost making him drop Boxy. For a few seconds, all Danny could see was Jazz's eyes slowly opening as she stared straight ahead. Danny's vision cleared, and suddenly he was back in the air, still carrying Boxy.

"Danny? Danny, you ok?" Boxy asked as Danny veered back into his path.

"Y- yeah, but…did you feel that?" he asked.

"Yes, just a little bit, but yes," Boxy sighed, obviously troubled. "I'd imagine you felt it a bit more considering the fact that she's your sister, but we do need to hurry."

"Do you know how far we are?" Danny asked through clenched teeth, trying to keep calm.

"Just another ten minutes if you continue going this speed," Boxy replied with his eyes closed, concentrating on Vlad and Jazz, trying to figure out what was going on. Danny scowled, sweat dripping from his forehead as he increased his speed. Within a few minutes, Vlad's mansion came into view. Danny phased through the grass, landing in the basement and setting Boxy down. They had landed in a small dank room, the only light source being the light glow that Danny gave off.

"Stay here," Danny demanded, his jaw set as he got ready to take off and find the lab when Boxy grabbed Danny, forcing him to look at him.

"Danny, I'm not leaving you alone in this! You're just a kid," Boxy's brown eyes softened slightly.

"And you're just a human!" Danny yelled. They both stayed silent for a few moments before Danny sighed heavily. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know you didn't, kid, but…there's so much you're not ready for. So many things could go wrong…" Boxy seemed to be doing equations in his head. "I'm coming with you."

"To do what? Spew out prophesies? How will that help, Boxy?"

Boxy picked up a green and silver gun laying on the floor. Looking around, Danny realized that the floor was littered with similar green and silver guns. They were all covered in dust, the words Fenton Works written in big block letters. Just the sight of them made Danny's head spin, as if he was trying to remember a word that was on the tip of his tongue, except that word was his whole life. Danny tore his eyes away from the weapons, deciding to worry about that later.

"Are we going, or not?"

Danny smiled, grabbing Boxy by the arm and phasing through the walls, flying from room to room, looking for Jazz. After nearly a minute, Danny felt another flash fall into his vision. He saw Jazz struggling soundlessly as Vlad paced around her. Danny regained his vision, watching it turn red with anger. Everything blurred around him as he sped up, Boxy yelping, "Slow down!" next to him, trying desperately to cling onto Danny's arm.

Danny passed into the lab, the florescent lights making him stop right away. Jazz looked up from the metal table, her turquoise eyes widening with surprise and relief the second she saw him. "Danny!"

Danny floated down to the ground, letting go of Boxy without his letting his eyes stray from Jazz. He started to run towards her when a net wrapped around him, pulling him to the ground. Danny turned his gaze to Vlad, who was holding the net gun and smirking down at Danny.

"What's the matter, Daniel?" he asked, lowering the gun slowly to his side. Danny struggled, unable to break the net.

"Let me go, Vlad!" Danny yelled.

"Oh, Daniel, so naïve, so-" he was cut off by a shot of ectoplasm hitting him right in the gut. Danny turned back to Boxy, who held the Fenton Works gun aimed at Vlad. He smirked briefly at Danny. Vlad pried himself from the ground, scowling at Boxy. "Why, hello Edwin."

"Vlad," Boxy replied, keeping a completely neutral face.

"I do believe it's been a while," Vlad stalked slightly closer to Boxy, making sure to keep his distance, which seemed very un-Vlad-like to Danny. Although he tried to hide it, Vlad had a slight look of fear hidden in his eyes.

"Indeed, old friend," Boxy took a few steps closer to Vlad.

Danny struggled a little bit more with no avail. He took a look at Boxy, trying to find a way of escape. Vlad and Boxy continued to stalk nearer and nearer to each other, both too afraid to get within fifty feet of each other. Suddenly, Vlad pressed a button on his wristwatch.

"We're in lab 2-a, assemble immediately," Vlad spoke into his watch before taking his finger off of the button. Boxy kept his composure while he raised the gun and shot at Vlad again, even though it was useless. Ectoplasmic weapons were useless against humans except for an initial jolt backwards. Boxy ran up to Danny, untying the net with skilled fingers.

"Danny, get Jazz, I'll take Vlad," Boxy motioned towards Jazz, who was still struggling on the metal table. Danny started to fly towards Jazz when suddenly his ghostly tail was caught by none other than Skulker, Earth's greatest ghost hunter.

"Ah, ghost boy, so we meet again," Skulker tossed Danny onto the ground, staring over him while Danny jumped to his feet, falling right into his fighting position.

"Skulker, get out of the way!" Danny yelled, the green glow around him thickening.

"No can do, ghost child. I'm following strict orders here," Skulker pointed his gun at Danny. "And those orders are to destroy you."

Danny's heartbeat sped up in his ears, causing time to slow like putty around him. He felt his feet leave the ground and fuse together into a smoky tail. He made it halfway above Skulker before being shot back down to the ground by someone standing at the stairs. Danny turned his head, a scowl creeping slowly onto his face.

"Spectra," he muttered.

"Why, look at you, all trained and such!" Spectra smiled maniacally, taking a few steps down the stairs, the ectoplasmic gun aimed directly at Danny's head. "One more move, and I turn this baby up to the highest level."

Danny's gaze shifted between Skulker, who was standing over him, and Spectra, who was standing behind him. Skulker swiftly deposited another ectoplasmic web around Danny before he could even react. He struggled to break free when suddenly, Boxy let out a battle cry, drawing Danny's attention over to his left.

Vlad barely sidestepped before Boxy ran into him. Both of their faces were beaded with sweat. Boxy turned around, all of the calculations that were usually hidden within his eyes were gone.

"Oh, Edwin, you'll regret any other charges you make," Vlad insisted, all of his usual smugness replaced with seriousness. "Just join me. We'll be unstoppable. All you have to do is help me destroy him," Vlad pointed at Danny.

Boxy turned to Danny, and for a brief moment, he sent Danny a plan through his eyes. He hadn't lost the calculations in his eyes, he'd just hidden them. He turned back to Vlad, concealing his plans once more before saying, "Vlad…I…" he seemed to trail off. After a few seconds of still quiet, Boxy charged one more time, this time wielding a gun he'd expertly hidden behind him. This one was smaller, but seemed to exude a deadly green glow. He pointed it directly at Vlad, and pulled the trigger before Danny could even think.

Vlad barely managed to sidestep, and a swirling green portal opened next to him. Vlad's face went slack as he looked between the portal and Boxy. He quickly regained his composure, sighing and shaking his head at Boxy. "It appears you've chosen unwisely. Goodbye, old friend."

And with that, Vlad charged, tackling Boxy to the ground and rolling him nearer to the swirling ghost portal. Boxy struggled to get on top, risking a glance over at Danny, who was still staring in shock at the fight in front of him. He winked, mouthing the words 'Remember me'. He turned his attention back to Vlad, struggling to fight him while staying on top. After a minute of struggling from both of the men, Vlad managed to wedge his kneed between Boxy and himself, extending his legs out in front of him as much as possible. Boxy flew backwards, stumbling to his feet just an inch from the portal. Vlad struggled to get up, pulling a gun from the ground next to him and firing.

Boxy stumbled backwards, falling into the ghost portal just as it closed.

For a few moments, everything was completely quiet. Nobody moved, not even Jazz, who had been struggling the whole time. Danny broke the silence by yelling, "NO!"

Heat rippled around him as he transformed into his human form. The waves of heat got more and more intense, burning the net wrapped around him. He jumped to his feet, the heat waves slowly fading. Vlad stumbled to his feet, a scowl replacing the fear as he looked between Spectra and Skulker.

"Well, don't just stand there! Get him!" Vlad pointed to Danny, and both Skulker and Spectra snapped out of it. Danny turned back into his ghost form, flying up to the ceiling in an attempt not to get grabbed by the ghost hunters.

"What did you do to Boxy? What will happen to him?" Danny yelled. Vlad chuckled, all of his usual smugness back.

"He's stranded in the ghost zone, soon to vanish into nothing," Vlad continued to look up at Danny, obviously not in a hurry.

"What do you mean, soon to vanish?" Danny yelled again.

"Oh, Daniel, how little you know. The more life a being has within them, the quicker they vanish in the ghost zone," Vlad began to walk slowly over to the lab table with the serum on it. "Immortality is the highest form of living. I'd guess he has maybe two more minutes before he fades from all of reality. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"No, I don't believe you!" Danny tried to surge forward and attack Vlad, but Skulker pulled him down by his left wrist, and Spectra ran over and held his right wrist. He tried to phase through them, but something was stopping him.

"Oh, you better start believing, Daniel," Vlad said smugly as he pressed the needle into Jazz's arm, injecting the toxic green liquid.

The room was washed in green light, Jazz's screams filling Danny's ears.

 **Sorry it took so long, but this chapter took a LOT of energy! I hope you guys like it, because I'm really proud of my first battle scene in this story.**

 **I've got this great plan for Jazz, I'm REALLY excited. Also, it's about to get really serious for the next chapter or two, just a heads up.**

 **Oh, last thing, does anyone have any ideas for stuff to add to the middle of the book? Almost like filler stuff that's still exciting to read? Because I need to make about another year pass before the climax/ending, so...**

 **Alright, see you guys next time!**

 **-Samantha**


	9. Chapter 9

The green light faded gradually, leaving everyone in the lab slightly blinded. Jazz sat bolt upright, the straps melting off of her. Her eyes were toxic green with dark swirls moving constantly within them, and she seemed to exude a poisonous green glow. She turned her attention towards Vlad, her eyes boring into his.

"Leave," her voice came out as a hoarse whisper with a sense of electricity behind it. Vlad, as if in a trance, tumbled to the ground, laying unconscious. She then turned her attention towards Spectra and Skulker, daring them with her eyes to stay. Spectra let go of Danny's right arm, running up the stairs while Skulker stayed still, paralyzed with fear. After a few moments of staring at Jazz, Skulker dropped Danny's wrist and ran after Spectra. Finally, she turned her eyes towards Danny, who shook his head and ran to her.

"Jazz, you alright? Sorry, that's a stupid question, but we need to get you out of here," Danny reached out for her arm, but the second he touched her, his hand was engulfed in a burning sensation. He pulled back, cursing under his breath.

"I…I," Jazz whispered. She looked at Danny for a few moments before gasping, as if realizing something. "The one. Thermos. Frozen. The master of time will aid you. With a price. Great price. 27. Very bad, 27," Jazz muttered, her eyes scanning Danny's face. "Very bad. 27. Price. Thermos."

"Jazz," Danny said softly, looking at her eyes. "What do you mean?" Danny remembered Boxy saying something about him dying at age 27 in the alternate timeline, but he decided not to focus of that right then.

"I love you, but you don't," Jazz spoke softly. "He doesn't. You don't," Jazz bit her lip as a few tears rolled down her face. "He'll kill you, and I'll be sad," she spoke like a small child.

"Jazz, I don't understand."

"27. Bad. Stay here. Don't find him. Don't go back. Stay here. Wrong but right. He won't like it, but I will. You'll stay like this," Jazz smiled shyly, as if she was asking him something impossible.

"Are you talking about my future?" Danny asked. Jazz nodded slowly. "You have the gift of prophecy?"

"Prophecy. Telepathy. Power. With great power comes great responsibility? No. With great power comes great madness. Great burden. Madness and burden," Jazz's tears flowed more and more down her face. Danny looked at her, trying to bite back a sob. Watching his sister reduced to tears and turned mad felt like someone was tearing out his heart. He transformed back into his human form, reaching out and testing his luck by touching her face. This time, her skin didn't burn him.

"Jazz, I'm sorry I let this happen to you," he hugged her, burying his face in his hair.

"Not you. Me. A deal gone wrong. Blackmail. Vlad," Jazz continued to talk in fragmented sentences. Danny let go of her, looking into Jazz's toxic green eyes and trying to keep calm.

"Vlad blackmailed you?" Danny asked through clenched teeth. Jazz nodded slightly, and Danny took a few deep breaths. "Ok, it doesn't matter right now, we just have to get you out of here. Here, give me a few minutes, I've gotta go find a phone."

Danny walked over to the control panel in the lab and punched in the phone number that Ember had made him memorize. After about three rings, Ember's voice asked, "Hello?"

"Ember, this is Danny, I need your help."

"What is it? Here, Danny, can you put Boxy on the phone?" Ember asked. Danny stood completely still, his hands starting to shake. "Danny? Hello?"

"I've gotta go, Ember."

"Danny, wai-"

"I'll call you back in a few! Ok, bye!" Danny hung up the phone quickly, looking around quickly for the gun Boxy had used to open up the ghost portal. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about Boxy, even if it was just for a few seconds. He looked all over the floor where he and Vlad had fought, finding nothing.

"With him. The box one. He has it," Jazz interjected, as if reading Danny's mind. He turned to Jazz, who was sitting calmly on the metal table with her legs crossed, the glow around her changing from lighter to darker greens in sync with her breath. Danny cursed, turning back to the ground, refusing to believe there was no way to get Boxy back. "He's faded," Jazz assured him.

"No, he's not!" Danny yelled, making Jazz jump. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Jazz apologetically. "I'm sorry, Jazz. But he can't be gone. He's not."

"Faded. Not gone. Faded into the universe. Part of all of us now. Not gone," Jazz tried to comfort him with her fragmented sentences and her small smile. Danny sat down next to her on the metal table, putting his head in his hands and trying to stay calm. Jazz scooted next to him and threw her arm around him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. They stayed that way for about ten minutes before Danny took his head out of his hands and got off of the table, walking dejectedly over to the phone and dialing Ember's number again.

"Hello? Danny?" Ember sounded worried.

"Hey, yeah, it's me," Danny sighed. "Sorry for hanging up on you earlier…"

"Yeah, what was that all about? And where are you calling me from?"

Danny sighed once again, explaining what had happened in the last few hours and leaving Ember utterly speechless.

"So…Boxy's gone?" Ember choked. She started sobbing. "No, you…you're lying. He's not gone. It's not true!"

"I'm so sorry, Ember. I couldn't save him. I can't save anyone," Danny hung his head. "I need to get Jazz out of here before Vlad wakes up, but…well, I'd understand if you don't want me back at your place. I'll find somewhere else to go."

"No, Danny, I know it's not your fault," Ember tried to calm down. "Why don't you just fly her back here and we can figure things out?"

"Well, I can't touch her in my ghost form, and I can't fly in my human form here. Maybe there's an invention in here that will help," Danny told her.

"Ok, go ahead and check, I'll stay on the line," Ember sniffled. Danny set down the phone without hanging up and took a look around the lab. He found a few beakers with more of the toxic green serum (which he stayed away from) and a few little unfinished trinkets before finding a prototype jetpack. Danny picked it up and picked up the phone again.

"I found something that might work. It's a self sustaining jetpack. I'm hoping it'll take up back to your place alright."

"Alright, well call me if anything goes wrong, ok?" Ember asked. Danny said agreed before hanging up and securing the jetpack on himself. He turned to Jazz, his hand outstretched.

"Read to go, Jazz?" Danny asked.

She nodded and shakily got to her feet before taking Danny's head. She gave him a smile and followed him up the stairs.

* * *

Danny stumbled to the door of Ember's condo, Jazz behind him. It was nearly midnight, and the jetpack he was holding onto was steaming. After it broke down the fifth time, Danny had almost given up until he figured out it was only a ten-ish minute walk back to Ember's place. The whole time, Jazz had muttered to herself aimlessly, sifting through all the new information and power tumbling through her head. A few times, she just sat down in the middle of the road, closing her eyes and taking a break from the walk. In other words, a ten minute walk turned into a fifty minute walk, but Danny didn't care as long as Jazz got what she needed. It was the least he could do for her after failing to save her.

Danny knocked on Ember's door, breathing heavily and waiting for her to answer. After a few minutes, Danny gave up and just opened the door, which wasn't unlocked, but Danny just phased his hand through the door and unlocked from the inside. He found Ember asleep on the couch, her laptop open to a movie he didn't recognize. All around her, tissues littered the sofa and the coffee table. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, which made Danny's heart shatter. Seeing her so hurt was just as bad as seeing his sister having mental breakdowns.

Danny gently laid a blanket over her, closing her laptop and turning to Jazz. "We'll talk to Ember in the morning, ok Jazz?"

Just as Jazz started to nod, Ember woke up, sitting bolt upright and opening her eyes in shock. Her eyes glowed toxic green for a few moments before gradually fading as she tried to catch her breath. Danny!" she gasped. "Oh, I just had the worst dream! Are you alright?"

"Well, as fine as you can be after day like mine," Danny sighed. "Wait, do you have the gift of prophesy too now?"

"No…it was more like someone was…sending me a message? I don't know for sure…" her eyes wandered over to Jazz, who was standing behind Danny. "Oh, Jazz…"

"You're the one with the song," Jazz's poisonous green eyes widened, and she took a step back. "Different now, not always. 27. Song. Him," Jazz rambled again, turning away from Ember and facing the corner, taking labored breaths in an attempt to calm herself.

"Danny, what happened to…?" Ember trailed off, tears welling in her eyes once again.

"She's…she has too much power. It's taking over her mind and I don't know what to do," Danny struggled to say, trying to convince himself that it wasn't true.

"Danny, come here," Ember motioned him over. It took Danny a moment to realize that he was crying. He stumbled over to her, letting her engulf him in a warm, sisterly hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Danny pulled away, running his fingers through his hair half heartedly.

"What now?"

"You…oh, Danny, I hate to say it, but you have to go," Ember said, choking on the words.

"What? No, of course not!" he stood up, looking at her like she'd just told him that he had two heads. "What do you mean I have to go?"

"I just mean…well…I've been thinking about it all night, the whole alternate timeline thing, and I think you need to correct it," Ember explained herself.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, still shocked by the fact that Ember would want him to leave.

"Well, Vlad messed up this timeline, killing you and spreading some world wide disease, right? Well, that's obviously not the way things were meant to be. You're still supposed to be alive, I'm supposed to be dead, Jazz isn't supposed to be like this, and Boxy…" Ember choked up again at his name. "He's not supposed to be gone."

Danny thought about that for a second. The idea of undoing all of this was almost too good to be true. Jazz didn't have to be mad with power. Everyone he loved didn't have to be dead. Boxy most certainty didn't have to be gone. The only part that scared him was the fact that if he fixed it all, he would still die at the age of 27, although that didn't scare him so much. Death didn't scare him nearly as much as his life at the moment did. Besides, the fact that he died saving the world definitely was an up side.

"You're right," Danny's words came out as soft as a whisper. "But how?"

"Find this Clockwork guy and figure out how to fix everything. If there's anyone who can do it, it's you," Ember encouraged.

"Ok, but what about Jazz?" Danny turned his attention back to his sister, who was still facing the corner.

"I know he's the one but he's my brother," she muttered to herself. "No, he has to," she argued, as if she was talking to someone who wasn't there.

"I'll take care of her, Danny," Ember declared. "I've got to clean out Boxy's lab before the government finds it anyways, maybe I can find something to reverse the affects of the serum."

"Well then, it's settled. I'm gunna fix everything," Danny said, not believing what he was going to attempt to do. He say back down on the couch next to Ember. "I'll leave tomorrow."

"Ok," Ember threw her arm around Danny. "This is the right thing to do, you know."

"I know," Danny stated blankly. After a few silent moments, Danny tried to change the subject. "Hey, what movie were you watching?"

"Oh, just my favorite pick-me-up movie of all time," Ember said, obviously relieved by the change of subject. "It's called 'The Sixth Sense'. Wanna watch?"

"Sure," Danny smiled, trying to pretend that this was just another one of their normal movie nights, even though he knew it wasn't. His sister's mind was decomposing by the second, his mentor had faded into nothingness, and he was going on an impossible mission the next day. No matter how much he wished things were back to his version of normal, they weren't, and they would probably never be again.

 **Longest chapter yet, yayayay! But also a super sad super dark chapter...**

 **It's going to get a little lighter for the next few chapter though. I've had a ton of inspiration lately! In other words, I'll probably update before next weekend (although I can never be sure with my homework).**

 **I've got a pretty solid plotline down for this, I'm really excited! And then I'm still debating whether I should make this a two book thing, or just keep it one book. Any input?**

 **See you guys next chapter!**

 **-Samantha**


	10. Chapter 10

Danny stood next to Jazz and Ember, watching the sun rise from Ember's balcony. He was in his ghost form, so that when he returned to Amity Park (in the ghost zone, of coarse) he would blend in alright. Ember said that there was supposed to be a portal opening right in front of them, according to the readings from one of Boxy's machines. Jazz had dark circles lining her eyes, and if Danny had to guess, she probably hadn't slept at all.

"Ember," Danny sighed, looking at her for what he figured would be the last time before he fixed the timeline. "I was thinking last night about fixing this whole timeline, and…I figured out how different things will be. After you die, you become…you become evil. And so does Boxy. Along with," Danny took the list Jazz had given him earlier, reading the names that almost filled up the page to himself. He sighed again, putting the list away. "So many others. If I change everything, you'll be evil again."

"I know," tears were brimming in her eyes. "But it's what needs to happen. This isn't right, and I know that. And I'm ok with that. I don't want to be alive forever, Danny."

"Well, I'm not fine with that!" Danny slammed his fist on the railing next to him, making the whole balcony shake slightly.

Jazz wrapped her arms tightly around herself. "Temper. Bad luck. Must calm," she muttered aimlessly. Danny sighed, rubbing his face before letting his arm drop to his side.

"Sorry, Jazz. But Ember, I can't let you become evil. That's just not you," he explained.

"Danny, I turned out that way for a reason. We're in no place to speculate. Now come here and give me a hug before the portal opens up, loser," Ember tried to joke, but it was obvious that it was forced. Danny headed over and hugged her, pulling away and looking up into her eyes, trying to memorize her face and the way she looked at Danny with so much admiration. He tried to save this moment in his mind, memorizing the perfect way her ponytail was almost falling out, and she had a bit of smudged eyeliner underneath her eye, and how she bit her lip when she got nervous. This was the real Ember, Danny assured himself, not some evil ghost from the unchanged timeline.

"I'll miss you," he sighed. "A lot."

Ember ruffled his hair jokingly. "I know. Now, hurry up and say goodbye to your sister before the portal opens."

Danny nodded, turning around to face Jazz, who was looking at him with so much sadness and knowingness, it made him cringe at the thought of whatever she saw that put that look on her face. "Jazz, I'll get you back to normal, I promise. Just…hang in there until you do," Danny promised. Jazz reached out for Danny's face, and he changed back to his human form just before she touched him to keep his skin from burning.

"I know," she assured him. "I love you." For a moment, it almost seemed like the old Jazz, the way she said the words without any ease or uncertainty. "Advice, watch your back. Might save your life. The one who knows. Look. Watch behind you," she rambled, obviously trying to tell him something important. "Might live. 27."

Danny memorized every word she said, deciding to comprehend them later. He nodded, throwing his arms around his sister and nuzzling his face into her hair. "I love you too, Jazz."

To his left, the portal opened with a bang, like someone had fired a gun right next to Danny's head. He turned, letting go of Jazz and looking into the portal. He turned back to Ember, who was trying not to cry and nodded grimly at her, afraid he himself might break down into tears. He took one more look at his broken sister, letting out a few more words before transforming back into his ghost form and stepping into the swirling green portal.

"I promise I'll make things right."

* * *

Danny tumbled right into Sam's room out of thin air, landing on top of her. They tumbled a few feet before thumping against the wall and sprawling on top of each other. Danny rubbed his head, groaning a little bit from the impact while Sam tried to get out from under him.

"Danny! Where were you? You've had us worried sick!" Sam finally managed to get out from under Danny, who was still a bit disoriented from the trip through the portal.

"I, um, had a few things I needed to take care of?" Danny asked it more like a question than an actual statement.

Sam punched Danny on his arm, making him wince and rub it a little bit. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"No promises," Danny smiled a little bit, remembering how much he missed Sam. In the last week, she'd stayed relatively the same (as most ghosts do after they die), although her room was far messier than it normally was, and she wasn't wearing any of her usual makeup.

"So? Where were you? Tucker and I have been looking everywhere for you!"

"Oh, yeah, how is Tuck?" Danny asked, smiling and rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh, good, except for the fact that he's been COMPLETELY WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Sam yelled at Danny, making him smile. Man, he'd really missed her. "Oh, Tucker! I should call him!" she forced Danny to sit down on her bed. "Stay here. I swear, if you run off again, I will punch you so hard…" she threatened.

"Nice to see you too, Sam," Danny said sarcastically, watching as Sam ran out of the room to call Tucker.

* * *

"And then, I came through the portal and landed on Sam. And here we are," Danny finished explaining what had happened while both Tucker and Sam stared at him with their jaws dropped and their eyes wide.

"Danny," Sam said quietly, almost a whisper. "I can't believe you went through all of that."

"Yeah, dude, that's…" Tucker trailed off, not knowing quite how to respond to Danny's reason for going missing for so long.

"Yeah, well, now I need to figure out where this Clockwork guy is and figure out how to get his scepter back from Vlad," Danny explained.

"So it IS true!" Sam exclaimed, still hung up on the fact that there were actually survivors from the Death Plague. "There are still living people out there! And YOU!" Sam looked at Danny with so much excitement, it would've been hard for him to believe that she was goth if he hadn't known her before. "You're a hero!"

"Um…I guess?"

"You guess? No, Danny, you ARE," she said it with so much certainty, it made Danny smile a little bit.

"So, what now? You go and find this Clockwork guy and boom, everything's back to normal?" Tucker asked.

"Well, it's more complicated than that," Danny explained. "First, I have to research this Clockwork and figure out where to look for him. Then, I have to figure out how to get his scepter back from Vlad, and then deliver it back to him."

"Wow," Sam was finally grasping the fact that all of this was actually happening as well as realizing that the challenge wasn't over yet. "Wait, but first, how are we going to explain your little vacation to your parents?"

"Well, I can't tell them that I'm half alive. They'd flip and probably try to destroy me or something," Danny sighed.

"Well," Tucker started before being interrupted by the sound of Sam's doorknob turning. The trio froze, watching as the door flew open, revealing Sam's very angry parents.

 **Hey! Super short chapter just because I could ^.^**

 **So, I decided that I totally have enough plot right now (although I could change my mind in the future) to make a sequel, but knowing me, I would probably finish the first book, then never start writing the second book, lol. Sooo, I'm going to just pack a whole bunch of content into one mega-long, super awesome book!**

 **Also, I know I mentioned some personal stuff in last chapter's a/n, and I honestly posted it without thinking, and I'm really ok! Nothing to worry about, I actually meant to type that and then delete it before posting, whoops! (It's deleted now btw).**

 **Anyways, moving on, these next few chapters will be a lot of ghost zone drama, so a little bit of a shift from the last few chapters. I'll try to update as soon as possible!**

 **-Samantha**


	11. Chapter 11

"Samantha Patricia Manson!" Sam's mother crossed her arms. "You know you're grounded, young lady! And instead of staying in your room by yourself, you decided to invite Tucker and-" Mrs. Manson stopped herself when she saw Danny. "You're supposed to be missing."

"Um, hi Mrs. Manson," Danny waved awkwardly. Mrs. Manson's gaze shifted from confusion to a glare.

"Daniel Fenton, where have you been?" she yelled at him as if she were his mother, not Sam's. "The whole town has been worried sick!"

"I…uh…" Danny tried to thing of a quick excuse when Sam jumped in.

"He was, um, recruited last minute by some ghost zone officials for a study that required the…most average ghost?" Sam tried.

"Samantha, that is absolutely-" Mrs. Manson started.

"True!" Sam's grandma wheeled in on her wheel chair. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Ida," Sam's mom turned to her own mother. "And why would they do that? Especially without letting him notify his family?"

"Well, they are the Observants," Ida countered. "They really don't bother themselves with ghost's everyday lives."

With the word Observants, Mrs. Manson stiffened, her face painted with fear for a few moments before she regained her composure. "Well then, you'd better get back home then," she told Danny. "And you, young lady, are still ina world of trouble."

The trio sighed in relief before heading down the stairs to walk Danny home.

* * *

"So, what was that all about with your grandma?" Danny asked as he closed his locker. "I mean, she totally got me out of trouble with your mom just by mentioning the…what did she cll them? The Observants?"

"Yeah, I don't know, my grandma is kinda crazy," Sam sighed.

"Kinda crazy?" Tucker asked. Sam elbowed him hard in the arm. "Ow, sorry, but am I wrong?"

As the trio walked down the hallway, the other students all stared at them. Word had traveled fast that Danny had been recruited by the Observants for some study. Most of them didn't even know what the Observants were, but word also traveled quickly that they were apparently pretty powerful. Even though Danny was now all over the social radar, it wasn't necessarily a good thing. Nobody dared ask him or his friends about the whole ordeal, mainly because they just thought that Danny was some freak.

They walked into Lancer's classroom just as the bell rang. "Students, take your seats!" he called. "Today's lesson will be on the history of the ancient ghosts, including-"

Screaming from the hallway interrupted the teacher before he could finish. Star, one of Paulina's best friends, poked her head in the door. "There's a ghost hunter! Everybody, like, totally RUN!"

The first one out of the door was Dash, who ran as fast as possible followed by Paulina and everyone else in the class room except for Danny, Tucker, and Sam.

"Well, that's my cue," Danny transformed into his human form.

"Wait, but Danny, last time you tried to save the day, you disappeared for a week…" Sam worried.

"Sam, I'll be fine, trust me," Danny smiled a little bit at her.

"I know you will be but…" Sam was about to say something, but decided against it. "Just be careful."

Danny nodded, smiling at her and phasing through the wall and into the hallway, where a tall, thin man stood. His white hair stood straight up, and his eyes were barely showing through his magenta goggles. He smiled toothily, his pale skin stretching around his face. He wore a white lab coat with magenta accents.

"Hello, halfling, I am Technus, greatest technician in the whole WORLD!" he said in a loud, high pitched voice.

"What are you doing here? Do you work for Vlad?" Danny asked. The other ghosts in the hallway stayed to the edges, staying away from the exits due to the fact that they were blocked with a mess of wires that Technus must've planted there.

"Why, of course I work for Vlad! And I'm here to bring you back to him!" the ghost hunter answered.

"Then how are you here? Why aren't you vanishing like…like Vlad said your kind will?" Danny yelled, his anger boiling over.

"A serum, halfling! Very expensive to make, but very much worth it!" Technus bellowed in his loud, over the top voice. "And now, prepare to surrender to Mr. Masters!"

"Or, how about this?" Danny asked sarcastically as he pulled one of his parent's gadgets out of his backpack that he'd smuggled out of their lab. He shot the small handgun at Technus, and a ray of blue electricity shot towards Technus, who went flying back into the wall. Technus twitched as his clothes smoked and sizzled. He tried to open his eyes, but was instantly out cold. Around him, a swirling blue, yellow, and green portal swirled, closing within a few seconds, leaving a empty space where Technus had just been.

The whole hallway was silent for a few moments before Dash stood up tall, clapping his hands a few times. After a few moments, the whole hallway erupted in applause for Danny. He smiled a little bit, taken aback by the sheer volume of the hallway.

"Who are you?" Paulin asked once the applause calmed down a little bit.

"I- I'm…uh," Danny stuttered until he suddenly realized that they all thought he was a hero. He could be whoever he wanted, act however he felt. Danny stood up straight, smiling and puffing out his chest a little bit. "I'm Danny Fenton, and I'm here to keep you all safe," he said in his best superhero voice.

With that, he looked around one more time, nodding with a small smirk on his face, and phased through the ground, into the basement where he then phased back into Lancers classroom and turned back into his ghostly form. He ran out into the hallway, trying to look as normal and dorky as he assumed he usually looked.

"Phan-turd, you missed it!" Dash exclaimed, shoving Danny roughly against the wall before backing up and laughing at Danny's shocked expression. "This Danny Fenton kid totally saved the day. Where were you anyways, hiding like the wimp you are?"

"Yeah, something like that," Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously, shooting a knowing smirk to Sam and Tucker, who were standing a few feet away, smiling proudly at their friend.

* * *

By the end of the week, 'Danny Fenton' had sent about ten ghosts back to the organic world, instantly making Danny Phantom's trip to the Observants old news. The whole school was buzzing with rumors about Amity Park's new hero. Some people, like Danny's parents, thought that this Fenton kid was just as evil as the rest of the ghost hunters that came through, but most of Amity Park couldn't stop talking about how great Fenton was.

A few ghosts had caught on about the fact that the word the ghost hunters had called him, 'halfa', meant that he was half human, half ghost, although most people didn't believe that theory. They all thought that it was way too out there and quite frankly impossible.

And where did that leave Danny? Well, the whole school was convinced that Phantom was a total wimp, running and hiding every time there was an attack from Masters' men, but Danny didn't really pay attention to that. He was too busy with trying to figure out how to balance school, his normal life, and his hero life, and honestly, he was failing pretty badly. His grades had dropped from C's to F's, and the only time he spent with Sam and Tucker was training and human hunting, although lucky for Danny, his parents hadn't caught on yet.

And that brings us to Monday, the day things got even more complicated. It all started out when the trio was walking to school just like most mornings, talking about human hunting strategies.

"So, if you do that, then you'll have time to catch up on your homework AND human hunt!" Sam finished.

"Sam, I'm not doing homework while I hunt," Danny said flatly.

"Why not? It's more productive than what you're doing now," Sam argued.

"Sure, and while I'm at it, I might as well tell everyone in Amity Park that I'm half ghost, half human, and that I go to the high school! Then, might as well hand my parents the dissecting tools!" Danny said sarcastically.

"Well, it was just an idea," Sam said, obviously upset that she'd been disproven. Before any of them could say anything else, a swirling blue and yellow portal opened right above the three, depositing a woman in a red jumpsuit with black accents. She fell on Danny with a thud, and struggled to her feet.

"Oh my gosh, Danny, I'm so sorry!" she apologized before helping him up. Danny took her hand and stood up before looking her over. Just like a lot of things, he had a vague feeling of daja vu, as if he should've known this mystery woman, but he couldn't quite remember her.

"Um, do I know you?" he finally decided to ask.

"Oh, right, you probably wouldn't recognize me," she pressed a button on her watch, the red jumpsuit folding off of her and leaving her in a pair of black pants and an orange shirt. Her coffee colored skin was just a shade lighter than her short cut hair, and her hazel eyes glittered with desperation. "I'm Valerie, Valerie Grey. And I'm here because I need your help."

 **Short short chapter, sorry. I've been really busy with school and the social life that I'm trying to maintain lately, so I really didn't have a ton of time, really sorry! But, after this week, I have a whole week off for MEA break, so I'll probably make a bunch of updated then.**

 **Soooo, what do you guys thing? I know I ask literally every chapter, but I really like the input.**

 **Also, it's my hope that this story will be pretty long, I've decided, since I really want to keep a few plot ideas I've been thinking of.** **Well, I probably wont update for another week, unless I'm pleasantly surprised, so I guess I'll so you guys then!**

 **-Samantha**


	12. Chapter 12

"Valerie…Grey? As in the former ghost hunter Valerie Grey?" Sam asked. "Danny, she hunts ghosts! I read about her once in this book!"

"I…" a memory tugged at the back of Danny's mind. "No, Sam, I think it's alright."

"No, Danny, I think you need to send her back!" Sam said.

"Look, just…chill, Sam," Danny kept his eyes on Valerie while she stood still, silently biting her lip.

"C'mon Danny, you've gotta at least remember something about me. I mean, we were friends for years," Valerie smiled a little bit.

"I…uh…" Danny felt sick to his stomach, trying to remember. "I don't remember, I just can't. But I know you," Danny finally turned to Sam. "I know her, it's ok."

"Danny…" Sam was about to say something, but she bit her tongue and just looked away instead. "Fine. Just don't come crying to me when everything goes wrong," Sam stormed away.

"Sam wait!" Danny called, starting to run after her when Valerie caught his arm. She looked down at her wrist watch, cursing under her breath when she saw the time on her timer.

"There's no time. We have to go now, before it happens."

"I…ok, I guess, yeah," Danny said hesitantly, still unsure whether or not he should trust the feeling in his gut. "Tuck, are you with me?"

Tucker was still looking at Valerie in awe, obviously trying to comprehend what was going on. He shook his head, snapping out of it. "Um, Danny, I don't know…"

"Danny, there's no time for this!" Valerie dragged Danny with her, walking down the street like she knew every twist and turn.

"Um, Valerie, care to explain what's going on?" Danny tried to keep up as Valerie dragged him by his arm, running and weaving through the town until they finally made it to the edge of the floating island. "We- We're not allowed this close to the edge."

"Yeah, we're probably also not allowed to do this," she dragged both of them off of the edge, and they both wend tumbling into a void of nothingness.

"AH! Valerie, what are you doing?" Danny screaked while he flailed his arms helplessly. After a few moments, his instinct kicked in, and he transformed into his human self, catching Valerie and keeping them suspended just a few hundred feet below Amity Park.

"Wha- Danny!" Valerie yelled. "You were supposed to let us fall! There's somewhere we both need to be just below us!"

"Well, I would've known that if you'd explained anything!"

"Ok, you want me to explain? Well, here you go. I remember everything that happened. I know that this is all just an alternate universe because of the fact that I'd been zapped by ectoplasmic waves so many times before that, that nothing ghostly really effected me anymore. And I know you know what I'm talking about because I just recently came in contact with Ember and Jazz," she explained.

"You…wait, what?!" Danny exclaimed.

"Well, I need your help because of the fact that there's about to be a portal to earth opening just below us any moment now. I don't know what's going to be coming through, or what will even be going on, but I do know that you're the most powerful person I've ever met, and if there's anyone who can keep things under control, it's you."

Danny took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "What's going to happen? What do we need to be there when the portal opens?" Danny asked.

Valerie sighed. "I don't know, but I do know that it involves Vlad. Which basically means that it's not good."

Danny took a deep breath, feeling his heartbeat (which was getting stronger and stronger since he'd gotten his powers) slow down slightly. "And you're sure about this?"

"Positive."

Danny nodded, letting the two of them fall again. After about thirty seconds, Amity Park was just a speck in the swirling green and black void. After just a few more seconds, Valerie clicked her heals together, her suit flying around her and fitting itself to her. She pressed a button on her watch, and a board came out of her boots, the jets firing up and stopping her from falling. She caught Danny and pulled him on the board with her.

"Wow," Danny looked down at her hover board in awe. "That's amazing!"

"Yeah, I know. So, the portal should be opening right in front of us in three…two…one…" just as Valerie counted down to one, she pressed a button on her watch, and both of them turned invisible. The portal opened just half a second later, the swirling blue and yellow clashing with the green and black around it.

Three small silver and magenta probes flew out, staying completely still in front of the portal for a few seconds until the portal closed. The probes then turned in three different directions, and flew away from one another. After the probes were far enough away to not be seen anymore, Valerie turned off the invisibility.

"That was…shockingly anticlimactic," Danny sighed, floating away from Valerie's hover board so that he was eye level with her.

"He was…just trying to probe the ghost zone? That's it? But according to my readings, that portal was big enough to bring an army through it!" Valerie scowled. "It must've been the fact that the probes were so advanced that the portal needed to have a huge ectoplasmic signature in order for them to make it through."

"So, wait, Vlad's trying to probe the ghost zone now? That can't be good…" Danny looked around until his eyes landed back on Valerie. "So, what Sam said about you being a ghost hunter…is that true?"

Valerie sighed, hanging her head slightly. "Ok, yes. You know how Jazz told you about you being a sort of teenage superhero in the original timeline? Well, so was I, kind of. Vlad had given me the equipment I needed to hunt ghosts, hoping that I'd take you out. And, well, I did try to take you out, when you were in your ghost form. But then I found out that you were half ghost, and a hero when you saved the world this one time, and we became partners. Then, Vlad messed things up with that stupid immortality serum, but I still remember. Oh, I still remember everything," she tightened her fists into balls at her sides, obviously angry with Vlad. "In the alternate timeline, this timeline, I went along with Vlad only long enough to get the equipment I needed. Then, I fought him as hard as possible, never giving up. I still won't give up, especially after what happened to you, and everyone in Amity Park."

Danny stood there in shock, trying to comprehend her words while memories fought their way back. Valerie Grey, Amity Park High School, something about a ring. He tried to collect his thoughts without any success, leaving the small pieces of the puzzle separated. "I remember somethings," Danny finally said. "We went to high school together, right? I remember feeling guilty, and…and a ring?"

Valerie pushed a button on her watch, and her suit came off, leaving only the hover board under her feet. She covered her mouth, her eyes glistening with tears. "Yes. Yes, you remember!"

"Well, not everything, but bits and pieces," Danny rubbed his neck nefariously.

"Oh, that's ok. Danny, I'd honestly be fairly surprised if you remembered everything, considering the fact that this was all before you died…and in a different timeline," Valerie trailed off.

"Yeah, everything's pretty fuzzy…" Danny trailed off. Suddenly, he remembered how he'd left Sam and Tucker in such a hurry. "Oh, hey, we should get back up to the island. Are you staying, or…?"

"Um, I really don't think that's a good idea. I hear ghost hunters aren't the most popular around here," Valerie smiled a little bit, starting to hover closer to the island. Danny followed her until they were finally up on the cliff, where Tucker was a few feet away, pacing and looking for the two of them. The second they landed, Tucker ran over, obviously worried.

"Danny! Dude, you guys just went off of the cliff! I didn't know where you went!" Tuck ran up and gave Danny a tight hug before pulling away and turning to Valerie, then back to Danny. "So? What happened?"

"Well, here Tuck, I'll explain later, but first, where's Sam?" Danny asked.

"Um, she ran into the woods after you and Valerie ran off," Tucker said awkwardly, still looking between Danny and Valerie.

"Val, I've gotta-" Danny looked at Valerie.

"Yeah, go, I've got somewhere to be anyways," she smiled at him before pressing a button on her watch, activating her suit. Danny turned and ran towards the woods just as he heard a surprisingly familiar scream echo.

"Sam!" Danny floated off of the ground, flying as fast as possible towards the woods.

 **Ok, even I have to admit that this chapter was pretty lame. So, not to make any excuses, but I've just had no inspiration lately! (well for this story anyways...)**

 **Also, even though I have a week off, I don't know how much I'll be able to update. I really just am not super excited about this one like I was before! If anyone has any exciting ideas, I'm all ears. I'm really, really sorry, I should just stop making so many storied because I never seem to complete them, ugh.**

 **Anyways, I'll try to update, we'll see when that happens.**

 **-Samantha**


	13. Chapter 13

The thing that sent Danny over the edge was the laugh, ringing through his ears. He knew that laugh, too, which both scared him and at the same time, spurred him to be faster. He flew through the woods, weaving through the trees at speeds that would've been phenomenal if he wasn't so hyper focused on that spine chilling laugh and that blood curdling scream.

Finally, he reached a clearing, coming to a halt the moment he saw her. "Spectra," the word escaped Danny's lips.

"Oh, look at you! Here to save the day with your cute little superhero act," Spectra taunted, her voice like a steal blade cutting through the air. She held Sam by the face with her precisely manicured finger nails digging slightly into her skin.

"Sam," Danny breathed, his chest heaving up and down while the adrenaline coursed through him. He turned to Spectra, looking her right in the eye. "Let her go."

"No can do! Mr. Masters asked specifically for this one, something about a test? Or an experiment? Oh, it doesn't matter. All I know is that she's coming with me," Spectra's smile widened more and more as she talked. Danny took a step closer, but Spectra's grip tightened. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Danny. Take another single step closer, and I might be taking her back in two pieces."

Danny's heart raced as he looked back and forth between Spectra and Sam.

"There is, of course, another option. Mr. Masters said he would settle for either the girl…or you," traced a single finger over Sam's face. Danny looked between the two, biting his lip slightly.

"Danny, don't!" Sam called. Spectra tightened her fingers around Sam's face, and she whimpered slightly.

"Quiet!" Spectra regained her composure, turning back to Danny and smiling manically. "Now, Danny, you choose. I can take the girl, or I can take you."

"I-" Danny looked between the two again. He sighed, transforming back into his ghost form and walking slowly towards Spectra with his hands above his head. "I give up. Take me, just leave Sam alone."

Spectra laughed, throwing Sam to the ground and rushing over to Danny before fastening secure handcuffs around his wrists. "There you go, that should hold you alright. Now let me just get the girl," Spectra smirked down at Danny.

"What? No, you said that if I came with you, that you'd leave Sam alone!" Danny struggled against the bonds, but Spectra took a small remote out of her blazer pocket and pressed a button, sending a shock through his body and making him fall to the ground.

"Oh, honey, don't believe everything you hear," Spectra fastened the handcuffs around Sam's wrists. She turned around and crouched down next to Danny, running her fingers through her hair and pulling his head up so that he was looking directly into her eyes. "You're my ticket to success, honey, and this time you better not run away."

She turned away from both Danny and Sam, pressing another button on her remote and opening a portal in front of her. She turned back to Sam, picking her up and struggling not to drop her. "You'll never get away with this, you'll never take us!" Sam spat.

Spectra pressed another button on her remote, and bright blue electricity ran through her. Her whole body went limp, and Danny could just barely hear a low groan come from her.

"Sam!" Danny called, struggling against the bonds. Spectra turned her attention towards him, pressing the button and waiting for the electricity to shock him. Danny prepared himself for the electricity to effect him, but nothing happened. Spectra stumbled backwards a little bit, still holding Sam.

"That should've effected you!" Spectra looked at Danny wide eyed. She pressed the button again, waiting for a response. When nothing happened, she pressed it a few more times, throwing the remote down on the ground in a fit of anger. "Ok, this doesn't matter! I still have the advantage here! I've got the girl under my control, which means that if you even dare do anything risky, I WILL hurt her, you understand?"

She bent down to pick up her remote when Danny looked down at his hands. They were both glowing electric blue, a ball of energy collected in his palms. Danny looked up at Spectra, who was just straightening up with the remote in her hand. Without thinking, Danny pointed his hands at her, willing the electricity to shoot towards her. Three tendrils shot out of his hands, hitting Spectra right in the chest and causing her to drop Sam, who was just starting to regain her movements.

Danny struggled against the handcuffs, finally breaking free of their constraint. He stood up, running over to Sam, who was just then starting to struggle against the cuffs. Danny transformed into his human form and phased Sam's wrists through the handcuffs, and she sighed in relief.

"Danny, thank you so mu-" she started, but Danny caught her off with a tight hug, surprising her.

"Sam, don't scare me like that again. I'm so sorry I trusted Val but please just don't do that to me again," Danny breathed into Sam's hair while she uncertainly wrapped her arms around him.

"Danny, I'm ok. What's gotten into you?" she asked.

"I can't lose one more person I care about Sam," Danny exhaled, breaking Sam's heart. "I can't lose you."

"Oh, Danny-" Sam began, only to be interrupted by Spectra, who was back on her feet and pointing a silver and magenta gun at them both.

"Make one more move, and I fire. This bad boy can and will wipe out about half a mile when fired," Spectra smirked, her hair sticking at weird angles from the electricity. Danny pulled away from Sam, scowling at Spectra.

"You'll never get way with this," Sam seethed.

"Oh, I already have. Now, unless you want your town to be blown to bits, I suggest you both do exactly as I say," Spectra kept the gun level with Danny's head. "Well, get into the portal!"

Danny stood up slowly, helping Sam up and walking slowly towards Spectra and the portal. When he finally got close enough, he said in a tone just loud enough for Spectra to hear, "You really think I'll follow you?"

"What do you-" Spectra started, her finger tightening on the trigger.

Before she could finish, Danny pushed her as hard as he could into the portal, which stayed open for about half a second after she went in before closing. Danny's heart raced as his chest moved up and down quickly while he tried to slow his breathing.

"Danny, that was amazing!" Sam threw her arms around Danny's neck, smiling and looking right into his neon green eyes.

"Thanks," he smiled a little bit, looking right back into her eyes. He started to lean in just a little bit, when a rustling sound from the woods stopped him.

Tucker ran into the clearing, sighing in relief when he saw Danny and Sam together and alright. "You guys are alright!"

Sam dropped her arms down to her sides, and Danny took a step back, a blush evident on his face while he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah, we're ok," Danny agreed awkwardly.

"Wait, did I interrupt something?" Tucker asked.

"No!" both Sam and Danny said at the same time.

"Ok, well then, we should probably head back before anyone gets worried," Tucker looked between the two suspiciously. Danny and Sam nodded, heading out of the clearing with Tucker. "So, what happened?"

"Uh, long story," Sam scoffed.

"REALLY long story," Danny agreed, shooting Sam a small smile.

 **Really REALLY short chapter, sorry, I just couldn't resist. So, after a pep-talk (pep-type?) from PickleWitch, and also after going back and reading the old reviews from some other people, I just had a ton of great ideas suddenly and had to post them today. So, TADA! I'm pretty happy with this one, so I hope you guys are too. Also, I really appreciate it when people type reviews and stuff, it literally makes my day. I just wanted to say thank you guys for the reviews, I'm excited to see what you guys think every time I log on.**

 **See you guys next time?**

 **-Samantha**


	14. Chapter 14

Danny walked into Amity High more confident than he'd been in weeks (or at least more than he'd been while being Danny Phantom, not Danny Fenton). He took a deep breath, approaching his locker and trying to maintain a calm front. Sam and Tucker both looked up, slightly surprised that he looked so wide awake and alert.

"Wow, Danny, I haven't seen you this happy in a while," Sam chuckled halfheartedly.

"Yeah, dude, what's up?"

Danny smirked at Sam, completely ignoring Tucker's presence. "Sam, I've got a quick question."

Sam's face turned a slight shade of pink as she pushed a strand of hair from her face. "Um, yeah, ok."

The bell rang, making Sam jump, which Danny noticed was so unlike her. He offered her a smile. "Later, ok?" She nodded in response, taking the lead and beginning to walk to class ahead of Tucker and Danny.

"Woah, dude, what the heck was that?" Tucker asked, playfully nudging Danny's shoulder.

"I just . . . I've been thinking about the whole Spectra thing, and how at any point, something terrible could happen. And I just figured that . . . well, it's better to do something now than to wait when the future is so unstable, you know?" Danny tried to explain. "No, of course you don't know. It's just really hard to explain . . . "

"Wow, Danny, you're really serious about this. Um, ok, wow. I think you should go for it, totally. You guys have obviously been into each other since I can remember. But, I just wanna make sure that you're ready for this. I mean, you two have been friends for so long . . . " Tucker reasoned, shaking his head and saying each word with a slight smirk on his face.

"I know, Tuck, and I've thought about it. I care a lot about Sam, and I just want to be with her," Danny said. It felt like a weight was lifted off of his chest to finally say it all aloud.

"Alright, Danny, ok," Tucker smiled. Danny was about to enter Lancer's room when suddenly, a wave of heat went through his body as a red wisp escaped his mouth.

"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Danny groaned. Before Tucker or Sam could say anything, he rushed out of the room, running into the boy's bathroom before anyone could see him. He transformed into his human form, phasing through the bathroom door and quickly scanning the school for any ghost hunters.

"Looking for someone?" a female voice from behind Danny made him jump. Instantly, his mind went to Spectra, but upon turning around, he found himself looking into a pair of turquoise eyes. Her long brown hair was up in a high pony tail, and she wore a belt strung with all kinds of silver gadgets labeled 'Fenton'. Danny sighed, letting his guard down.

"Ember, you scared me!"

"Look, there's a problem," Ember said, skipping right to the point. "Jazz, she's been getting worse lately. A little while ago, I had her mostly under control, but lately, she'd been mumbling more about . . . well, you. She says that you're getting closer to dying, which I don't really understand because didn't you already die? You know what? I'm not even going to try to understand any of this. All I know is that she's getting worse and it's scaring me," Ember rambled, constantly shifting her gaze around the room, as if searching for any kind of threat.

Danny stared at Ember, trying to process what she'd just said. "She's getting worse . . . how else is she getting worse?"

"Well, she's been having nightmares, most of which end with her screaming and all the glass in my apartment shattering. Also, she keeps talking bout how you can't trust yourself, and by you, I mean YOU, Danny. She's always so worried about you and your future, always telling me about these awful things that'll happen to you when you're twenty seven. I'm really worried, and I- I just didn't know who else to come to, to talk to, and I . . . I'm scared for her Danny, I-" Ember started sobbing. Danny recovered from his shock and pulled Ember into a hug, and even though Danny was hovering about two inches off of the ground, Ember was still taller.

"Ember, it'll be alright, I promise. I know that you're worried about her now, but I'm going to fix everything, I promise. She'll never have had that serum injected into her, and she'll never have been in all of this pain, trust me on this," Danny assured her.

"But when?!" Ember pushed herself away from Danny. "When are you going to fix all of this? You promised that you would go find Clockwork a while ago, and nothing so far. I know that it'll be like this never happened, but guess what? It's all happening right now, and it's not getting any better at the time being!"

"I-" Danny tried to argue his point, but Ember cut him off.

"No, you listen to me! Jazz is sitting at home in my apartment right now, probably rocking back and forth and worrying herself sick about you, and you're here, what, trying to save this little floating rock?! No! This is not alright! What gives you the right to put these ghosts before your own sister - who, might I remind you, is still actually living. What gives you the right to choose who suffers, and who doesn't?" By the end, Ember was sobbing, trying desperately to remain calm, but failing.

"Ember," Danny's voice came out as a whisper. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I never thought of it that way. All I've ever tried to do is save people, but I- I guess I can't save everyone . . . " Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what else to say."

Ember wiped the tears from her eyes. "I care so much about Jazz, Danny. You're like a little brother to me, and I never meant to hurt you, but you're hurting someone that I care about and I'm done dealing with it. You have to help Jazz, no more playing, Danny."

"Alright. I will. No more playing, no more games, I promise," Danny said, his voice quiet, yet determined.

"Ok," Ember said, nodding her head and wiping more tears from her eyes. "Alright. That's all I had to tell you. Sorry to scare you. Now, I really should go before my temporary immunity wears of and I . . . you know," Ember trailed off, looking down at her lap hesitantly. "Please, you know what to do, and you know what's right. Just do it, Danny."

With that, Ember nodded once more at Danny and pressed a button on her belt, creating a swirling yellow and blue portal, like the sky in the organic world, and stepping into it. Danny stood there for a few minutes, looking at the spot she was just standing and trying to comprehend her words. Everything she'd said about Jazz and about what he needed to do ran through his head over and over again.

Suddenly, Danny heard footsteps down the hallway, and quickly transformed back to his ghost form before turning around to see who it was. Danny's eyes met Sam's mossy green ones, and she smiled shyly.

"Hey, Danny, what's taking so long? It usually only takes a few minutes," Sam asked. When Danny continued to stare blankly at her, her smile twisted into a look of confusion. "Hello? Danny?"

He shook his head, snapping out of the daze and looking emotionless at Sam. "Yeah, sorry, I got a little preoccupied."

"Hey, so, I know you had something you wanted to ask me earlier . . . ?" she trailed off, glancing at him with a nervous expression painted on her face.

"Oh, yeah. Um, I was going to say that we really need to crack down on finding Clockwork and cut out any other unimportant distractions," Danny said quietly and distantly.

"You- what?" Sam asked, hew voice a shaky whisper. "But, I thought . . . "

"Well you thought wrong. I need to focus and get everything back to the way it's supposed to be," his tone was bitter and cold, making Sam flinch a little bit before straightening up tall and taking a deep breath, concealing the surprise written all over her face.

"Alright, yeah, you're right. Sorry for the distraction, it won't happen again," Sam spat, turning on her heal and walking away from Danny, who continued to stare blankly at her while she walked away, Embers words still running thought his mind.

* * *

 **Hi guys, I'm back! I guess you could even say that I've come . . . Back To Life. Aha, I've been waiting for like a month to use that pun :D**

 **So anyways, I'm done with the play I was in, which was the original reason for the temporary hiatus, and I'm also done being sick (which is why I didn't write for like a week longer than expected) so I should be updating more regularly now! Yay!**

 **Also, happy Thanksgiving! It's actually like exactly 12 am on Thanksgiving where I am as I'm typing this, so I guess I can say this? Idk, all I know is that I'm super excited about the holidays and the snow (which is weird because where I'm from, snow season is literally like five months? Why am I excited for it?)**

 **Sorry for going on a random tangent, but I'm just really happy to be back. Sorry if there are any errors, feel free to message me/leave a review if you see any, or if you wanna just comment on whether or not you like where this is going. Just let me know what you guys think! I love hearing what you have to say :)**

 **~Samantha**


	15. Chapter 15

"According to the library at city hall, Clockwork's tower is actually just near here," Sam said, standing in the corner of Danny's room while Tucker and Danny sat on his bed.

"How close?" Danny asked, his face like stone. Tucker's eyes darted between his two best friends, obviously trying to figure out what happened between them.

"Maybe an hour long trip," Sam said, not once meeting Danny's eyes.

"Ok, let's go," Danny got up, ready to leave at that very moment.

"You mean- right now?" Tucker jumped up from the bed, looking at Danny with wide eyes. "What about my parents? Our parents? We're just going to leave without any explanation?"

"Look, if all goes right, everything should go back to normal, and we should all be alive again. So, no, we don't need to leave an explanation," Danny's voice was unwavering while he walked out of his bedroom door, leaving a very shocked Tucker and a stone faced Sam.

Tucker walked closer to Sam, stopping a few feet away from her. "What's that all about?"

"Apparently Danny doesn't like distractions," Sam turned and walked out the door without another word, Tucker on her trail.

* * *

Danny floated down to the surface of a jagged rocky island, setting Sam and Tucker down with a deep breath. The trio looked up at the large, metalic clock tower. The green around it swirled at different tempos, as if under the spell of the distortion of time that Danny could feel from being so bear to Clockwork himself.

"Wow," Sam breathed. Danny looked over, watching while her mossy green eyes reflected the purple glow coming from the tower. He shook his head, reminding himself that he had a job to do.

"Ready?" he asked. Tucker and Sam nodded, and Danny grasped them both under their armpit and floated up to the window of the tower and going through one of the large cracks in it. He let them down, and took a look around.

Scattered on the ground around them were pieces of broken glass. Dented gears and gear parts littered the ground, as if the tower had been ransacked. Laying just a few feet from the trio's feet was a silver and green thermos with a large hole through it, as though it had been punctured. Danny took a few steps towards it, picking it up and looking at the blackened writing on it: Fenton Thermos. He dropped it, letting it roll lopsidedly away while he tried to catch his breath. His head was spinning, trying to retrieve a memory that wasn't there. All he knew was that whatever was in that thermos was not meant to be free.

"Danny?" Sam whispered. Danny stayed crouched next to the thermos, which had hit a broken part of a gear and stopped rolling. Sam took a few steps over to him, crouching down and resting her hand on his shoulder. Her frigid hand snapped Danny out of the trance. He turned to her, worry painted in his sky blue eyes. "What's the matter? What's going on?"

"I don't know, I just . . . " Danny felt his breath quickening as he felt the memory that was supposed to be there tugging at his brain.

"Can I help you?" a deep voice caused Danny and Sam to both snap out of their moment. An old man with ghostly green skin and dressed in purple robes with a single black scar across his face floated just a few meters away from Danny and Sam. They both got up, looking at the man solemnly while he shifted into the form of a toddler.

"Are you Clockwork?" Tucker asked from behind Danny. Sam and Danny both looked behind at him, having momentarily forgotten that he was there.

"Indeed," Clockwork shifted to a middle aged man. "I've been expecting you."

"I'm -" Danny began to introduce himself.

"I know who you are. I know many things, but who you are, Daniel, is quite uncomplicated. I know also that you are here in hopes of restoring order for your sister," Clockwork swirled his hand through the air, projecting an image of Jazz pacing, the glowing green haze around her stronger than ever. Danny gasped, rushing forward to look at the image.

"She's gotten worse," Danny muttered. "I never meant to hurt her. Ember said she'd gotten worse, but this is . . . " Danny looked up at Clockwork. "What do I have to do?"

"The path you're choosing is difficult. You will have an impossible task to face. One so detrimental that even I cannot predict the possible outcomes," he explained, shifting throughout each sentence to a new form.

Without hesitation, Danny nodded, a determined look in his eyes. "I don't care. I need to make things right again."

"So be it. In order to remake the time staff that has been destroyed, I need enough primal time energy captured into a single item. Daniel, I am sure you could help me with this," Clockwork explained.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"Having used the ancient ghost zone artifact, the Infamap, on many occasions in order to travel through time, your very essence has held on to this primal time energy. Because your travels occurred in an alternate timeline, the energy is multiplied enough to be a primal source of time energy that can power a time staff," Clockwork elaborated.

Danny looked down at his chest, still slightly confused, but he looked back up at Clockwork and nodded anyway. "Alright. What do you need to do?"

"Stand still, and close your eyes," Clockwork instructed, and Danny obeyed. He suddenly felt lightheaded and almost fell to the ground, Sam catching him just before his head hit the floor.

"Danny! Danny, are you alright?" she asked while he opened his eyes slowly.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"You sure, bro?" Tucker asked, having rushed over when Danny fell over.

"Are you sure about your path, Daniel?" Clockwork asked, snapping the trio's attention to him. In his right hand was a brand new glowing blue time staff.

Danny took a deep breath, standing up shakily with the help of his best friends. "Yes."

Clockwork nodded, and everything went black.

 **Im back!...again**

 **So so SO sorry for abandoning you guys without any explanation. I've just been so busy with homework and now the holidays, but I had like six hours with nothing to do tonight, so ta-da! I hope you like it (sorry it's so short)**

 **As of right now, I've got a general outline that puts this story at about three chapters more before the end (sorry for coming to an end so quickly, I just don't have a ton of time recently).**

 **If you guys have any input, leave a reveiw, and I'll take it into consideration! Also, just an FYI, I will try to update recently (As I don't have anymore plans over winter break) so yeah!**

 **Also, happy New Years! 2k16, here I come!**

 **-Samantha**


	16. Chapter 16

Danny opened his eyes slowly, the bright yellow sun streaming into his window. Next to him in the queen sized bed, Sam was sprawled out, leaving Danny less than a third of the bed. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to remember exactly what had happened. Suddenly, everything came back to him - how he'd died. How everyone had died. Ten years of being in the ghost zone came back to him while he got up frantically, rushing to the bathroom connected to his room and taking a long look in the mirror above the sink.

A pair of sky blue eyes stared back at him while he studied his face. He was older than he remembered being - probably mid-twenties - with pasty white skin and jet black hair. He closed his eyes shaking his head and trying to remember what had happened.

Suddenly, like someone had flipped a switch, Danny remembered everything. He didn't die in that accident in his parents lab so many years ago, he'd only half died. He was like a superhero for years, saving people from the ghosts who managed to come through. Memories of defeating Pariah and saving the world from a meteor and of keeping reality from unraveling and from . . . and even saving the world from himself. His future self, the hardest enemy he'd had to face.

Danny stumbled backwards, remembering his meeting with Clockwork what felt like just a day ago, but was really in a different timeline. The Fenton Thermos with a hole through it . . . no, it couldn't be. He remembered Ember, and Jazz, and Boxy. Oh, Boxy. No matter how hard he tried to wrack his memory, there was no sign of the Box Ghost in this timeline. He was gone. Completely gone.

Sam came up behind him in the bathroom, obviously confused. "Danny, what's the matter?" He turned to her, his eyes wide while he tried to put the pieces together. "Was it another dream? You know that I told you not to run away from me like that, we can work through your PTSD together, you don't always have to be the hero," Sam wrapped her arms around Danny, surprising him by how much colder his own skin was than her's.

"No, that's not it. There's something that just happened . . . I have to go see Clockwork," Danny decided, pushing himself away from Sam while she looked at him in confusion.

"Alright, just don't come home too late. My parents are coming over for dinner, and you know they hate it when you're late saving people. Gosh, when I say it aloud, I hate them even more. On second thought, be as late as you want," Sam gave him a peck on the cheek. "And make sure to tell me what the hell is going on when you get back."

Danny nodded, smiling at her before transforming into his ghost form and phasing through the ground, where he knew he had a ghost portal in the basement.

* * *

As Danny flew up to Clockwork's tower, he remembered what had happened in the alternate timeline, remembering how everything had been broken as if it had been ransacked. He mentally beat himself up for not asking more questions. Stupid mentality of a 14 year old.

He entered through a large crack in the clock part of the clock tower. Floating down to the ground, Danny found Clockwork just a few feet away from him. "All of that really happened, didn't it? All the stuff in the alternate universe? I'm not just imagining it again, am I?"

"No, you are not imagining it," Clockwork's form shifted from a young child to an old man. "Just yesterday, you were here, in an alternate timeline, setting things right."

Danny looked down at his feet, picking up the destroyed Fenton Thermos. "He did this, didn't he? He was the one who destroyed your tower. Or, I guess I should say I did this, technically," Danny sighed, letting the empty thermos drop from his fingers. "What now? He's a monster. _It's_ a monster. Nobody is safe until it's returned here or destroyed."

"Indeed. But Daniel, if you remember correctly, you chose this path," Clockwork reminded him.

Danny sighed again, shaking his head in anger. "But I was just 14! At least, mentally I was! How was I supposed to know that all of this would happen?"

"But, is this option better than most of the earth's population being wiped out?" Clockwork countered, shifting into the form of a young man.

"Alright. Ok. Well, teach me how to stop this. Teach me how to reverse this. I've been your apprentice for a few years now, I should be able to handle this," Danny nearly begged.

"I'm afraid you can no longer be my apprentice," Clockwork said with an emotionless face.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You gave up that right when you relinquished your primal time energy to me in order to restore order," Clockwork held up his time staff. "You no longer possess the power required to be my apprentice."

Danny took a step back, nearly stumbling over a broken piece of a gear. "No, that can't be right!"

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, then how do I deal with it? That monster, that _thing_?" Danny yelled.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to deal with that yourself, Daniel. As for right now, you have to leave, as I have very important business to attend to," Clockwork motioned to his ransacked tower.

"I'll hep you clean up, do whatever you want, just please give me something, anything!" Danny nearly sobbed.

"I'm afraid your time here is up, Daniel, now please leave before I have to escort you out."

Danny grimaced, shaking his head and flying out of the tower without another word.

* * *

Over the next three years, Danny was constantly on edge, no matter how often he tried to convince himself and the people around him that he wasn't. Sam knew something was wrong, but every time she tried to ask her husband or try to get him to talk, he completely shut down, not saying a word. Danny was gone more often, looking for something. Every time he returned home, he was disappointed and angry, having not found it. But when he was home, and Sam wasn't asking questions, he seemed to be doing well enough. That is, until their first child was born.

The first day the little baby girl - they had decided to name her Maddie after Danny's mom, who had died just a few months before her birth in an ectoplasm disaster - was brought home, Sam found Danny by himself on the roof of their house, looking up at the sky. He had just turned 27 a few weeks earlier, and was even starting to grey slightly from the stress of constant ghost hunting.

"What's the matter?" Sam asked, sitting next to him of the roof.

"Do you think little Maddie will have my powers?" Danny asked, not taking his eyes off of the night sky.

"No, the doctors said that, somehow, none of the DNA she got from you had any ectoplasm in it. It's some kind of scientific miracle. Remember, we talked about this?" Sam scooted closer to her husband.

"I know, but the thing is that with ghosts, miracles never happen. I'm just worried about her," Danny sighed, not daring to look at Sam.

"I think something else is bothering you, too," Sam lightly elbowed Danny jokingly in the ribs, but he still refused to look at her. She sighed, laying her head on his shoulder. "I'm worried about you, Danny. You've never been this distant. Please, if you're keeping a secret from me, tell me."

Danny continued to stare at the night sky wordlessly for a few more minutes before finally speaking in a low whisper. "I always wanted to be an astronaut before I died. I guess that's not really an option, but I always assumed that somehow or another, I'd be able to go into space, without any ghost hunting or any world saving. But I that's not happening, is it?"

"Why not? You've got plenty of time! You're only 27! You're going to live a full, happy life. And I promise, someday before you die, you'll go up into space, Danny. I know you will . . . " Sam trailed off, staring at the stars for a few more moments before the baby monitor she'd brought up with her began to make crying sounds. "Oh, that's the baby, I've got to go," Sam said, getting up slowly and kissing Danny on the cheek before pulling his head so that he was looking right into her eyes. "Now promise me you'll come back in before too long, ok?"

"Ok, I promise," Danny kissed his wife before she left the room, leaving him to his own thoughts while he continued to gaze up at the stars. A single tear fell down his face while he replayed Jazz's warning from the alternate timeline in his head, thinking about Sam and Maddie and everyone else who counted on him.

 **Hey! This chapter was really easy to write, tbh I think I do better with writing angst than actual plot development stuff...**

 **Anyways, I hope you liked it! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story, favorited, and followed! It means so much to me that people like the stuff I'm writing! :)**

 **Also, if anyone has any** **suggestions, just leave me a review and I'll try to incorporate it (if I can, anyways). Anyways, I'll see you next chapter!**

 **\- Samantha**


	17. Chapter 17

New Years came around sooner than Danny had expected. Maddie was already six months old and just beginning to crawl. Even though Danny tried to be a good father, it was difficult when he had his own death hanging over his head. He knew he couldn't get too close to her, because he'd just end up gone anyways.

About two weeks before New Years, Sam convinced Danny that it would be a good idea to have a party with a few of their close friends and maybe family for New Years.

"C'mon! We barely ever see Tucker anymore, and your dad and Jazz have been looking for a reason to come over for ages. What do you say?" Sam convinced, smiling all the while.

"Well, I guess. Why not?" Danny tried not to think about the aching feeling in the pit of his stomach that tried to convince him that it wasn't a good idea. Sam didn't deserve this, and she certainly didn't deserve the way Danny had been separating himself from her. He knew that he'd been a shit husband the last few years - the last year in particular - and felt like throwing a party would be a good way to at least try to give her what she deserved.

"Alright, sounds like a plan! I can do most of the planning, I have a lot of time off from work and I know that you're really busy around this time with ghost stuff," Sam smiled at him, throwing her arms around him and giving him a quick peck on the lips. Just then, Danny's ghost sense went off, startling Sam slightly.

"Well, duty calls," Danny offered her a small smile, stepping back slightly before transforming and phasing through the roof where he then went on to turn in a circle, looking for any signs of a ghost.

"Looking for me, Dipstick?" a high pitched feminine voice called from above him. Danny looked up, looking right at a deathly pale, blue eyed and haired ghostly rockstar.

"Ember," Danny breathed, memories of a teenager with soft brown hair and kind blue eyes tugging at his brain. "I haven't seen you since . . . "

"I know, Dipstick, I haven't been around for a few years, I've gotten busy," Ember said, not an ounce of patience in her voice. "But the point is, I've got a message for you. Someone's been in the ghost zone for a few years, claims to be all powerful or whatever . . . " as much as she tried to hide it, it was obvious that Ember was terrified.

Danny gasped, suddenly realizing who she was talking about. "You don't mean - "

"Shut up!" Ember's hair grew a few inches in fury before finally calming back down slightly. "Don't. Say. His. Name. He'll hear you, and he'll find us. I came here to warn you, or whatever. The Christmas truce is coming up for us ghosts, but this guy isn't having any of it. He's been holding a few of us hostage," Ember looked away from Danny at this point, "and I'm afraid he might find a way to wipe us out. He's crazy like that."

"Then why warn me?" Danny spat. "You guys obviously hate me over there."

"Cause I think you might be able to take him. You've taken on bigger things, and you owe us a few favors too," Ember finally looked back at Danny with hard eyes. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to think, but all he could focus on was the abnormally loud beating of his heart and the words _he's back_ running through his head. "Come on, Phantom," Ember said, breaking him out of his trance. "I helped save you world once. Help me save mine," Ember looked into Danny's eyes, full of sincerity. For a moment, he could almost see her as the mousy brunette he'd once known in an alternate timeline.

Danny looked down at his house, thinking of possible ways this could end. He could face _him_ in the ghost zone, without the home-front advantage, probably in a place that _he_ knew Danny didn't know well, or he could try to set things up just right there in Amity Park . . .

The more he thought about it, the better taking it there in Amity Park sounded. He nodded at Ember, and a look of pure relief washed over her face. "I'll help you, but it needs to be on my terms. Tell him that I'm still here, and tell him where I am," Danny instructed.

"What'll that do?" suddenly Ember was back to her punk rock self.

"He has a score to settle with me. He'll come," Danny promised. Ember nodded, flying away without another word while Danny looked down at his house, thinking about the people he loved and taking a deep breath while he considered the risks of what he'd just set into motion, but it was too late.

What was done was done.

* * *

"Happy New Years!" Jack greeted his son at the door of his, Jazz just behind him. Danny hugged his father, then Jazz, letting them into the house. His father still wasn't even close to being done grieving his wife's death, but at least now he was able to talk and smile a little bit like he wasn't still completely guilt ridden. Not like he had anything to feel guilty about. Danny's mother's death had been an accident, nothing more.

"Happy New Years, guys!" Danny greeted in response, trying to remain calm while more of his loved ones piled into the house. Despite Ember setting Danny's plan into action, _he_ hand't turned up yet, which worried Danny. Now, having his friends and family all in one house - his house, of all of the places - scared him even more. He had a bad feeling about that night, and not just because Sam had forgotten the champagne.

"So, where's my niece?" Jazz asked, smiling at Danny while she took a seat on a barstool next to the counter in Danny's kitchen. Next to her, Tucker sat with a few mini cocktail wieners stacked on his appetizer plate.

"We had to put her down for bed, it's already her bedtime," Danny explained, taking a seat next to his best friend.

"Dude, these appetizers are great!" Tucker smiled, a thin layer of barbecue sauce just around his mouth.

Danny smiled, attempting to make small talk with his friends. Jack and Jazz were the last two to arrive, completing the guest list at their little party. Among the rest of the partygoers were Valerie, Dash - who Danny, Sam, and Tucker had actually gotten really close to after high school, Dani, Sam's parents and grandma, and a few of Sam's friends from work.

Danny checked the clock, seeing that after what only felt like five minutes of talking and catching up, three hours had passed, leaving only an hour before the new year. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Danny's ghost sense went off, causing all eyes to turn to him. Everyone in Amity Park knew that Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom, so everyone anxiously awaited Danny's next move.

He got up slowly from his seat, pushing it in and giving a small smirk. "Going ghost!" A blue ring formed around his waist, spreading to all ends of his body until he was completely a ghost while his friends and family cheered him on.

Danny's father stood up, readying his gun, as did Valerie. "Ready to go, Fenton?" Valerie asked, a smirk painting her face.

"I- I think I've got this one. I'm pretty sure it's just a small one, I'll be back before the year ends," Danny lied, trying to stay nonchalant. In the pit of his stomach, Danny knew that this was it. This was the moment he'd been planning for, happening while all his friends and family were around. He tried to ignore the growing sense of dread by giving a soft chuckle. "I'll be fine." Another lie. _Not like it would matter as long as they stay alive_ , Danny reasoned with himself.

"Ok kiddo, you know what you're doing," Jack smiled, lowering his ectoplasmic weapon. Danny choked down tears, knowing that this may be the last time he would see his friends and family. _No_ , Danny thought, _you have to try to change fate, try to win this one. For them_.

"I'll be back," Danny promised, this time knowing that it wasn't a lie. He meant it. He would be back, no matter what it took.

Danny phased through the wall to see who was there. What he didn't expect was that the second he left the house, a green ectoplasmic ray hit him in the side, knocking him out of the air.

"Why, hello," a low, smooth voice greeted from above him. Danny looked up at himself from an alternate timeline, standing there in all of his evil glory. "Miss me?"

"Dan," Danny growled, getting up and floating to the monster's level.

"Oh, don't tell me you're surprised or something. After all, you did have that ghost punk lure me here," Dan smirked maniacally. He floated there, simply crossing his arms over his chest.

Danny floated there, shocked that his evil counterpart had figured out his plot. Slowly, he wiped the look of shock from his face, replacing it with a scowl. He lowered his arms, getting into a fighting stance while floating just a few feet away from his arch enemy.

"Well, are we going to do this, or just make small talk?" Danny asked. Dan smirked, keeping his arms crossed over his chest nonchalantly.

"Hit me with your best shot."

 **Whoops, another cliffhanger! Sorry, it's just too tempting not to :P**

 **Anyways, this fanfic is coming to an end soon (I'm thinking that next chapter will be the last). This was my first fan fiction, and I know it's not the best quality, but I gave it my all and i'm pretty proud of how it's finishing up. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and followed! It means so much!**

 **Also, just a heads up, I'm going to start writing DP one-shots (I think I might upload my first one later today, actually...) so go ahead and check that out if you like my writing (or just really like Danny Phantom, lol)**

 **Well, see you guys next chapter!**

 **-Samantha**


	18. Chapter 18

Danny launched himself at his evil counterpart, a ball of ectoplasm readied in his hand. Dan simply sidestepped, sending Danny into the brick wall of his own house.

"Silly little boy. You're no match for me. I already exist, which means you don't have to. Which means I can do this!" Dan picked Danny up by the collar of his shirt. He threw the hero at the pavement of the street. Danny fumbled, having hit the ground, trying desperately to get up. "You're nothing. You can't even protect this pitiful little world properly. All it takes is one villain, and you're suddenly worthless." Dan spat.

At that moment, something inside Danny broke. His face twisted into a determined scowl as he pulled himself up from the pavement. The hero turned slowly towards the villain, slowly floating up to his level. "I will not let them down. I will not let you win. You are going to be destroyed, and I am going to continue being the hero," Danny growled. He floated closer to Dan's face until they were just inches apart. "I don't care what I have to do. I will tear you piece from piece to protect these people," Danny gestured around the street, not meaning any few specific people, but the whole earth.

"I'll see it when I believe it!" Dan spat, attempting to punch Danny in the face. Instead, Danny's hand caught the punch, stopping it just a centimeter from his own face. Dan's expression showed a momentary look of surprise before he composed himself. He pulled his fist furiously away from Danny, scowling.

"Wow, looks like you're not nearly as good as you thought," Danny floated slightly higher than Dan. "Maybe if you had some humanity, some kind of motivation, you'd be able to even compare to me."

"COMPARE to YOU!" Dan shouted, his voice bitter and ruthless. He floated up to Danny's level, his eyes glowing completely red with anger and power. "You would be lucky if you ever compare to ME!" the villain created a ball of toxic green ectoplasm, launching it at Danny.

Danny stumbled back, but managed to stay afloat. He used a power he'd discovered over the years, summoning a collection of green electricity from thin air, managing to aim it at Dan and launch it. Dan stumbled backwards, obviously surprised.

"You! How did you do that?! Show me, human scum!" Dan yelled, his rage taking control. He created a small green ectoplasmic tornado around himself, swirling with patches of red as a sort of representation of his ever growing rage.

"Maybe you'd know if you had some humanity," Danny responded, keeping his calm. His only advantage was the fact that Dan was letting his anger affect his fighting. If Danny stayed calm, he had a chance of keeping focused, while Dan was already long gone.

"Why you little- " Dan began when Danny interrupted by launching yet another attack of electricity on him. He stumbled back a few feet, the tornado of ectoplasm dissipating around him.

Dan scowled, launching himself forwards and grabbing Danny by the collar of his shirt before punching him in the face so hard that he flew through the air, crashing against the clock tower Amity Park had installed in hopes to make it more family friendly with all the ghosts around.

"You are going to suffer! I almost regret deciding to kill you now, as I'd love to see your reaction when I destroy everyone you care about," Dan growled, zooming over to Danny and grabbing him by the collar again. "You're worthless! Completely and utterly worthless! Don't you ever forget it!"

Danny looked the monster in the eyes. "I will not let you win!"

He took a deep breath, his ghostly wail rippling through the air towards Dan. Dan took a deep breath in just as the wave was about to hit him, a red wave of energy coming from his throat. The two ghostly wails fought for dominance, green against red. Dan's howl began to move closer and closer to Danny as his rage grew stronger and stronger. Danny continued to maintain his focus, staring Dan right in the eyes.

Suddenly, everything seemed to fall into slow motion. Dan put his last bit of rage and anger into his wail, the red waves getting dangerously close to the hero. Danny, at that instant, gathered all of his humanity and fear and anxiety he'd been keeping in the pit of his stomach, launching them into his breath. The separate ghostly wails fought for dominance once more before bathing the street in an incredibly bright white light.

Pain flared all around Danny, as if the two ghostly wails had created a cloud of acid that was just beginning to rain down on him. In the distance, Danny heard his arch nemesis cry out in pain and desperation. The white light began to fade while Danny fell into a momentary unconsciousness.

His eyes fluttered open, everything around him was slightly destroyed. He turned his head to loo at where Dan had just been, finding only a hazmat suit and no other remains. He'd done it. He'd saved the people he loved. He'd saved everyone from the monster. The accomplishment he felt was almost surreal.

The door to Danny's house opened, revealing a very worried Sam. She ran out, her eyes meeting Danny's while a smile spread across her face. "You're alive!"

Danny opened his mouth to take a breath and say something, only to find that . . . he couldn't breath. It was like someone had taken out his lungs. He clamped his mouth shut, his mind racing. Focusing on his chest, Danny's face twisted into a look of desperation.

"Wha- what's the matter? What happened? I saw this blinding light, and I saw you fall down and, and I heard this awful scream and I just . . . Danny, why aren't you getting up? C'mon, change back, it's almost midnight, we can talk about it when the party's over," Sam took a few steps towards her husband.

Danny just looked at her for a few moments, trying to dedicate each feature of her face to memory. Her shoulder length black hair, her striking violet eyes, the way her nose was slightly upturned, how she smiled at him, the cute little way her cheeks flushed when she got worried. All of it.

The clock struck midnight, the twelve strikes of the bell beginning. Sam took a step closer.

 _Bong_.

Danny pushed his hands to the ground, preparing himself for what was about to happen.

 _Bong_.

He pushed himself up, watching his wife's face.

 _Bong_.

Sam's concerned expression changed to a look of pure horror while she looked just behind Danny.

 _Bong_.

Danny turned slowly around, not ready to see what he was about to.

 _Bong_.

Danny tried to remain calm, to convince himself he wasn't actually seeing this.

 _Bong_.

He turned back to Sam, watching while she covered her gaping mouth with her shaking hands.

 _Bong_.

Her tear filled eyes met Danny's.

 _Bong_.

He turned slowly behind him for a second time, still in shock.

 _Bong_.

Danny closed his eyes, letting a single tear fall.

 _Bong_.

He opened his them again, looking down at the corpse of a blue eyed, black haired man.

 _Bong_.

The corpse's eyes were perminantly half open, his mouth hanging slightly. Danny couldn't bring himself to look back at Sam.

"Danny," she tried to get him to look at her. "Danny, what, is this a trick? Is this real?" He eyes stayed glued to his own corpse, not daring to look away. "Please, this is some kind of mistake. Some kind of joke, or . . . something!" Danny could hear her sobbing. "Please, look at me, Danny."

He turned slowly towards her, looking into those beautiful violet eyes. "I'm so sorry, Sam," Danny could't think of anything to say to make the situation alright.

"You knew, didn't you?" she asked, tears streaking her face. "You wouldn't tell me what was the matter, but you knew, didn't you?!" Sam bit her lip to keep from sobbing.

"I'm sorry," Danny said in a kind of trance, still in shock. Sure, he'd known all his life that what he was choosing to do was dangerous, but he'd never imagined it happening this way. With a baby and a wife and a life in front of him. He thought about his little girl who had to grow up without a father. About his dad who had to bury is son. About his sister who loved him more than anything. About Tucker, who had always been his best friend. And about Sam. Sam who had been there for him through everything. Sam who had never doubted him. The woman he didn't deserve. The woman who didn't deserve this.

Tears began to fall down Danny's face while he floated towards Sam, resting an icy-cold hand on her face. "You don't deserve this. I'm sorry I let you down."

"Danny, no!" Sam pressed her face into his chest. "You've never let me down. You'll never let me down. Never."

They held each other for a few minutes, just standing there. "I'm sorry," Danny muttered into his wife's hair.

"Can you stay here?" she asked, pulling away and looking into his toxic, ectoplasmic green eyes.

Already, Danny could feel himself slipping away, as if the fact that he was still in Amity Park was a mistake in itself. As much as he wanted to stay, he couldn't help but picture himself as one of the ghosts haunting the town, refusing to leave because of an obsession. He shook his head slowly, knowing that it was the right choice, no matter how much he wanted to be selfish and stay.

"I can't. I can't be like the rest of them, I just can't . . . " Danny choked on his own misery, tears streaming down his face. Sam bit her lip, letting herself continue to cry into Danny's chest. Suddenly, she gasped, pulling away and looking at Danny in shock.

"You- you're not . . . you're fading, I think," she choked out. Danny looked down at his chest, realizing that she was right.

"I have to go, I'm so sorry," Danny touched Sam's face lovingly.

"No," Sam sobbed.

"I'll see you again, I promise," Danny assured, still crying.

"No, Danny, please," Sam cried.

"I love you," Danny continued to fade until Sam was left alone in the street, sobbing quietly by herself.

"I love you too," she breathed, sobbing silently to herself while she fell slowly to her knees. _He's gone_.

* * *

 ** _The End_**


	19. The End Final AN

**The end!**

 **Wow, that was a lot sadder than I expected, sorry for the bummer ending. I hope you guys liked, it, I know it was quite the roller coaster to me. Thanks to all the supporters out there, you're all great!**

 **Also, I just wanted to remind you all that I will be starting to write a few one-shots every once in a while. I've already posted one, actually, so go check that out!**

 **I'd also like to thanks to PickleWitch for your constant support, the few times I questioned abandoning this story, you showed me that it was really something I needed to stick with, not just for the readers, but also for me personally. Thank you!**

 **Also, to SamanthaPhantom, who reviewed on this story a few times, I'd like to announce that because this story was basically finished when you came to me, I wasn't able to add your characters, HOWEVER, I am going to be writing a few one-shots in the future, and would be honored to incorporate them!**

 **Once again, thanks for all the support, it's been a wild ride, but we made it! I'm sad to see the story done, but also glad to see that I've now got more time for my countless other ideas.**

 **Goodbye (for now), and thank you times a million!**

 **\- Samantha**


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